CLEVELAND — A new white paper from Insider Perks argues that psychological factors, not a lack of amenities, are keeping many Gen Z adults from becoming repeat campers.
The report, “The Great Outdoors Disconnect: Why Wi-Fi Won’t Save the Campground,” identifies four barriers—Competence Terror, the Boredom Void, Productivity Guilt and Biophobia—that stem from developmental and digital influences on young adults.
It suggests the industry’s focus on amenities like fast internet puts campgrounds in direct competition with hotels, a battle outdoor hospitality can’t win.
The report is supported by recent industry data. KOA’s 2025 Camping & Outdoor Hospitality Report shows Gen Z has the highest “at-risk camper” rate of any generation—guests who express interest but fail to convert or return.
Brian Searl, founder and CEO of Insider Perks, said younger campers don’t need more comfort or connectivity, but encouragement and confidence in outdoor skills.
Research cited in the report also found that 79% of young adults wish they had more outdoor skills, and about 38% feel unwelcome in outdoor spaces despite no direct rejection.
The white paper outlines a diagnostic framework, five strategies for psychological “scaffolding,” and an economic comparison showing that supportive programming can cost far less than glamping investments. It also includes a phased roadmap operators can begin using immediately.
The report draws on 19 sources and includes case studies from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, REI Outdoor School, and San Diego County Parks. The full report is available as a free download online.
The RVtravel.com newsletter is an “original,” says Google!
What is the longest continuously published newsletter about RV travel in the United States? Here’s what Google says: “The RV Travel Newsletter has been in continuous publication online since 2001… It is widely recognized as ‘America’s longest continuously published RVing newsletter’.” BE HISTORIC! SIGN UP (if you aren’t already)
RVT1246b
Children that were in Boy Scouts , Girl Scouts, Campfire or 4H are comfortable outdoors.
The scouting program as a whole has been on life support for the last 20+ years. Changes in the program in the mid to late 2000s caused a rift between the Charting Organizations and the units. Across the deep south, the historically church-based chartering organization developed alternative faith-based organizations. What few units remained were focused on how quickly they could advance teens to the highest level before they lost interest at 16. 4H, which had heavy school integration in the 70s-80s, has lost this access in many locations. The modern two-income, 6-day work week family has little time to invest in outdoor activity organizations. They are busy trying to put food on the table.
Wow, unintended result of being inside on video games, going to school on the internet, working from home, not going out to go shopping, visiting with friends on aps, rather than in person, even ordering meals on the internet and having it delivered to home. Looks like AI could easily control these people’s lives. What a shame. I’m lucky, my first electronic device was when TV first came out.
Thank you for this snippet, RV Travel. Seems a bit more explanation might have been appropriate before punting to a link to the study. I guess I need to look up “Generation Z” in order to know what that is. Seems willfully obtuse and lazy to use such terms rather than merely giving the age range or the birth-year range. I guess it must be tons easier to type 4 characters than two groups of letters and numbers, or just numbers, separated by a hyphen, huh? Have a great day and safe travels!