A study of RVers suggests that many are now interested in staying at luxury RV parks. At the same time, it says interest in just plain old RV parks has seriously dropped. Is it a fluke, or are RVers upgrading their tastes? Do you prefer luxury RV parks?
Luxury RV parks the choice—but that conclusion is not from direct contact with RVers
The study was released by Modern Campground in partnership with Cairn Consulting Group. The report “reveals an intriguing shift in the preferences of RV travelers.” The basis of the study’s findings was not from actual contact with RVers, say through a phone or email study. Rather, the conclusions were drawn based on internet search volumes.
The report says, “The overall volume of searches for RV parks and campgrounds has declined by 12%. Conversely, interest in luxury RV parks has soared, with searches for these high-end accommodations increasing by 18%.”
“Evolving guest expectations”
Aimed largely at the RV park industry, the group producing the study says their findings have an important impact on RV park owners. “While the overall search volume has decreased, the demand for luxury and long-term RV parks is growing steadily. This trend signals a clear opportunity for campground owners to rethink and enhance their amenity offerings to attract contemporary RV travelers.”
The report added, “The significant rise in searches for luxury RV parks indicates a change in what RV travelers are looking for. They are seeking out more comfortable, upscale experiences and are willing to spend more for premium amenities. It’s essential for campground operators to recognize these trends and adapt accordingly to meet evolving guest expectations.”
Do you prefer high-end RV parks?
Are you a “contemporary RV traveler”? Are your “guest expectations” evolving? Looking to up the ante in what “your” kind of RV park offers? We’d like to know your thinking. Please put a check in the box of your choice on the survey, and leave your comments, too. Thanks!
##RVT1179b
Personally, I find the “luxury” RV parks to be a bit over the top for our tastes. And I am not fond of paying $100+ a night for that privilege. All I need is a decent, well kept RV facility with FHU’s in a decent neighborhood. Often, you are not getting that much more for the additional expense.
Who comes up with these conclusions? I would rather NOT go camping if I have to stay in an over-priced “luxury” RV park… sometimes people just get too full of themselves…
Aren’t options wonderful? YOU can choose whether to stay at a “resort” or not. Disparaging or begrudging those that choose to is not becoming, no?
No thanks. Give me 30 amp power, water, and MAYBE sewer hookup, and I’m fine. Those who want them can have the luxury parks. I’ll take less luxury and lower cost – and maybe even, perhaps, fewer people, if they’re all flocking to the luxury parks!
“…They’re all flocking to the luxury parks!..Paradoxical, no?
One of two things – a whole bunch of parks will spend money to become ‘luxury’ and it will be harder to find a place to stay; or maybe there will be plenty of room at nice, but not unwanted amenities, parks and once again we can just hit the road and roam as we wish.
We increasingly like a restaurant and a pool on the premises. Bakersfield RV Resort is an example. They serve meals and appetizers near poolside- it’s great! A morning paper at your door step is a nice gesture too!
I love this park which is a frequent stop for us but it does not carry an exorbitant price tag
We travel full time in a Class A, but almost nothing turns me off more than seeing the words “motorcoach resort”. We may be in a DP but we identify as a TT!
We looked hard for lower-frills RV parks (Google “RV Parks” rather than “RV Resorts”), to fit our budget and tastes. We have no desire for all the frills. Power, water, and sewer are great – everything else is optional.
With most campgrounds now calling themselves RESORTS, but offering nothing new, as well as raising their prices to a level not equal to the value being provided, I have found for a few extra dollars I can stay at a TRUE Luxury Resort with lots of amenities and enjoy a much better experience. Campgrounds are pricing themselves out of business!!!!
The report says it was compiled from a survey of searches, not actual reservations made. I do searches by state, attractions, surrounding area. etc. Just looking does mean I wanted to stay there.
I could care less about indoor/outdoor pools, pickleball courts, exercise rooms, expensive restaurants, snooty staff members and other fancy frills.
A nice clean campground with accommodating sites and down to earth neighbors is all we need. Not a place where rich people congregate.
Bob, you don’t have to be “rich” to use a credit card! 😉🙂
But you still have to pay it off.
We just spent 10 days in Upstate NY at a small privately owned campground in Lake George. It had a pool, playground and dog park.
Our total out of pocket expenses, including gas for the 1200 mile round trip, food and local attractions was under just over $1000 total.
Try doing that at a Luxury Resort.
We like to have full hookups when we camp . We also have a dog and we like to have her with us. For me with setup I really like concrete. We don’t us the pool or other facilities.
(Part 1)
“luxury RV park searches increased by 18%.” And yet, the same report shows searches for luxury RV parks at 1% for both 2023 and 2024. I guess that means that these searches rose from 1% to 1.18%. Concluding that RVers are preferring luxury RV parks is not supported by the numbers.”
The interest in the “best” RV parks also rose, with a 19% increase compared to the previous year.” “Best” could mean almost anything, depending on the searcher. It doesn’t necessarily mean a resort. I’d guess for many people “best” means best ratings by customers.
I judge your math is correct and the requests for luxury RV parks remains remarkably low. An increase in a subset of a subset makes the overall increase almost immeasurable.
(Part 2)
Searches for “RV Park”, “campground”, and “resort” are lumped together in the results. So, it appears the main differentiation in this report is if the person used “luxury” in their search.
The conclusions in this report would leave campground owners to think that customers want premium experiences. Put in a pool and host a movie night, rename it a resort, and people will pay double to stay at your park. This can only result in fewer campgrounds offering what most people really want, a clean, level, quiet spot that is reasonably priced.
Personally, I’ll the city park in Beloit, KS with free W/E hookups; the Sayre, OK, CCC-built, city park $12 W/E sites (with the city pool a 100 yard walk); CO’s San Luis Lakes SWA free 20/30/50A cg. (where we stayed last week, 15 minutes from Great Sand Dunes NP); or the NM state park $14 W/E cgs. (where we have stayed for years) over any luxury RV resort. Even a USFS cg. without hookups, but wide, tree-shaded campsites, hiking trails, and possibly a lake, is preferable to any “resort”. I enjoy fishing, kayaking, and riding my E-bike, which most “resorts” do not have available. And we don’t golf, play pickleball, or dine in fancy restaurants at home, so why would we do it while RVing?
We like State and National Parks with electric hook up only. If they have a sink at the bathrooms for washing dishes, all the better.
Electric, clean washrooms and showers, and sometimes a laundry facility are all I need. We had to stay in a “luxury” resort that cost $100 for one night 4 years ago because we were both too exhausted to drive any further (Florida Gulf coast) Didn’t use the pool, pickleball or tennis courts, attend the 5 pm coctails, -or the spa. The only good thing was all the landscaping totally muffled the highway noises.
We like basic RV Parks that are well maintained with power, water, sewer available. Some have dog park areas, laundry and showers, and even restaurants and that is also nice.
Who even searches for campsites using Google these days? There are many better ways to find good campsites with actual user reviews than made-up AI Google Reviews posted by hundreds of fake accounts. This entire article is based on a site for campground owners and is partnered with website enhancement companies that falsely guarantee greater traffic if you purchase their team to ‘enhance’ your website. Notice one of their main conclusions is SEO. They are missing the thousands who use applications and other tools to find websites and choose to skip talking to actual RV owners to find out their preferences.
Camping used to be roughing it in a tent or popup camper. Then we moved up to a 1964 Shasta 16 ft. trailer and thought we were in hog’s heaven. Now camping has turned into another money producing racket for corporate thugs who leech money from unsuspecting rich people…progressively ruling out the working class folks who created the road to these inglorious “resorts”. Sure glad we experienced camping when it was normal and something to look forward to.
we still do “camp” w/o hook ups in state parks with the intention of avoiding the blaring music or outdoor televisions…we go to leave behind those distractions for a brief time. Our rig has solar and lithium to maintain independence from high priced RV parks and the chaos associated with some of those situations.
Since we mostly boondock, “luxury” to me is anywhere with full hookups.
Your surveys are probably the only ones I would consider more accurate concerning anything to do with RVing
I think this report has it bass backwards. I search for RV sites near where I want to be. Campground owners see a survey result like this and says ” since all people search for is a luxury resort, I’ll change my name, double my prices and call myself a luxury resort. If that is the only type of resort in a specific location, OF COURSE all people will search for is ‘luxury resorts’. I prefer a no-frills, adults only campground, and would pay more for less.
Sounds like a flawed study. As I gain more experience traveling, I return to affordable places I like along my routes, and I start with government sites which have their own internal searches. Actual start-from-scratch”searches” are reserved for when I am traveling in unknown territory.
Meanwhile the newbies and occasional travelers are running more searches per capita, and these are often the ones willing to pay high fees in resort areas.
“…are RVers upgrading their tastes?”
Luxury RV parks are an “upgrade?” 🙂 🤣
I hope the trend continues…maybe I’ll then be able to get a reservation at a “plain old” National, State, Regional, or County campground without having to be up at midnight a year in advance on the opening of reservation time with my cursor hovering over the “book it” button!!! ☺️
Considering how shabby some of the privately owned Mom and Pop campgrounds have become RVers may be searching for alternatives. We prefer to boondock.
According to this poll, “not so fast my friend”.
Unfortunately The high cost of RVing and the increased price of RV parks has forced me to downsize several times in the last 7 years, from a 36ft class a to a 30 ft, to a 21 ft Travel trailer with 400 watts of solar so we can dry camp. I also got a Pickup truck camper and added 200 watts of solar. Who needs the overpriced RV Parks and RV resorts? “Not Me”
Mel
I bet if they polled FreeCampsites.net, they’d find search inquiries for luxury RV Parks.
It’s akin to polling only people leaving Burger King to “prove” flame broiled burgers are favored over tacos. Ask the same question at Taco Bell and miraculously, the results might change….. 🤦♂️
We camp because it is cheaper. Between the cost of gas, then add cost of rig. We are priced out. Our 23 year old tent trailer needs replacing, and everything cost to much. Then you have storage fees. If I want luxury will stay in a hotel, probably will end up costing the same.
If one needs constant entertainment those high end parks are for you. We prefer to commune with nature, so to speak, which means campfires and long walks. Each to his own.
Isn’t it interesting that the results of “studies” almost always favor the group that sponsored the study?
Give me a mom and pop campground any day. I wonder if people are searching for seasonal “resorts” like in AZ and NM.
Seems to me, less “permanent” work campers are staying in luxury parks. That must be in part a reason more rv-ers are opting to pay a few (or more) bucks. Less trashy broke done TTs and fivers.
Internet search results are often biased towards sponsors and whatever criteria the designers of the search engine, or their AI creation, imagined RVers might be looking for. When you search for coal and all the results are for diamonds you see what I mean.
The lowest cheapest Mom and Pop park is our preference. We travel and camp. I’ve never ‘glamped” even in a motel. Fancy is not my fancy.
Since I own a lot at a luxury RV Resort and spend 5 months of the year there enjoying the cool Oregon coast weather… I said Always or almost always. However going to and from that resort, I stay at rv parks that are convenient to my travels and are definitely not luxury resorts.
The reason your RV has tanks and batteries is so you don’t have to stay at a resort, or park, or have any hookups at all.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 We stayed at one campground in Alaska that was very expensive, but not quite a resort. Aside from that, no resorts at all in our past or scheduled travels. Have a great weekend amd safe travels! 🙂
We recently stayed at an RV “resort” in Cottonwood, AZ. Nothing we could see qualifies as a resort. There wasn’t even a restroom. Many RV parks are using the name resort but not providing any resort amenities. We like to stay at a reasonably priced rv park in an area we are interested in exploring.
All we want is a decent site with good utilities, and roads that are maintained to get to and from that site. We don’t need entertainment, amenities, public meeting spaces with organized activities, etc. We never search for a high-end “resort.”