The KOA Monthly Research Report, June Edition, indicates that 48 percent of campers plan to camp this summer, including 19.8 million that intend to camp over the Fourth of July holiday.

Following the release of its Kampgrounds of America’s annual North American Camping Report in April, ongoing monthly research by KOA pointed to continued interest in camping. With nearly half of all camping households planning to take a camping trip this summer, KOA projected that over 53 million households would camp in 2021. This number is up over 480,000 from May projections of its Monthly Research Report.

“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, 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.”

First-time camping households, which reached an all-time high in 2020, are also continuing to join the lifestyle in increasing numbers. KOA estimated that 4.8 million new households, up from 4.3 million projected in May, would camp in 2021. This summer, campers are most likely to spend their trips at national parks (76 percent), state parks (73 percent) and privately-owned campgrounds (70 percent). Top states for summer camping include California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

KOA’s outlook for the Fourth of July weekend is also up with 19.8 million households indicating they plan to camp for the holiday. Most plan to camp for the long weekend (33 percent) or add one or two additional days to their camping trip (31 percent).

“Camping and July Fourth go hand-in-hand,” said O’Rourke. “Last year campers started to cautiously venture out over this summer holiday, but this year we’ve already started to see high camper activity which indicates a healthy camping season. As camping continues to be considered as the safest form of travel, we believe this is going to be an incredible summer and year for camping.”

Other key camping industry indicators tracked by KOA include participation, incidence and future intent and preferred type of camping.

Photo courtesy Core Camping Equipment