The number of active campers just keeps climbing. Kampgrounds of America Inc. reported Friday that it is increasing summer 2021 overall camping estimates. KOA’s new monthly research for June now projects that 53 million U.S. households will camp somewhere in 2021. That’s up more than 480,000 from the projection KOA made in May.
KOA’s projections include all camping in the U.S., not just camping at KOA parks. The number of active camping households in 2020 was estimated at 48.2 million.
If you’re planning to camp this Fourth of July weekend, you’ll have lots of company. KOA is projecting nearly 20 million campers intend to camp during the holiday weekend. Most plan to camp for the long weekend (33%) or add one or two additional days to their trip (31%).
“As more states and provinces have loosened restrictions and more campers are vaccinated, we’re at an inflection point for camping growth,” said Toby O’Rourke, president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America. “People are continuing to turn to the outdoors for their vacations and are especially interested in national parks. We are pleased to see camping continue to thrive as other vacation options are starting to resume.”
The new data from June from Kampgrounds of America also increased the number of first-time camping households. KOA now estimates that 4.8 million new households are joining the camping lifestyle. That’s up from the 4.3 million new households projected in KOA’s May report.
Articles like this have taught me to wonder about estimated numbers being inflated for dramatic effect. 53 Million households? Hmm. There are about 360 million people in the US. If each household averages 2 people, that’s about 180 million house holds, meaning one-third of the US population are campers. If each household averages 3 people, that’s about 120 million households and therefore approaching half of the US population are campers. I doubt it. I’m not going to say KOA’s numbers are bogus, but I am curious at how they arrived at these numbers. It does make me wonder how many households there are in the US.
My thoughts exactly. Wonder what their sample size was?
Trying to get a spot at a KOA, anywhere, anytime is next to impossible. “Booked solid through September,” is the standard line.