Fifty-seven percent of campers who tried a new kind of camping in 2021 opted for RVs and camper vans, according to The Dyrt.
In a press release, the camping app provider said that a survey in The Dyrt’s 2022 Camping Report showed that more campers are using RVs, camper vans, and trailers as their preferred way to enjoy the great outdoors.
“Once behemoths of the road, RVs have become more modernized and sleek,” said Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. “Improvements in camper van and RV design continue to draw in both experienced campers and first-timers.”
There were 8.3 million first-time campers in the US in 2021 and about half a million people (6%) said they started camping because they bought an RV. Long and his wife, The Dyrt founder Sarah Smith, bought one too and ran the company from their camper van during the latter half of 2021.
“I’ve been a camper ever since I was a little kid,” Smith shared. But it wasn’t until 2021 that I got to truly experience what vanlife is all about, traveling from Oregon to Florida over six months. It was both the trip of a lifetime and a full immersion into our product and the camping community.”
As a result of the growing trend, RV sites are the hardest to find, making it three times harder to find an available campsite in 2021 than it was pre-pandemic, with more than half of RV and trailer campers reporting difficulty booking campgrounds. Among other types of campers, up to 37% reported having a hard time booking campsites.
The difficulty in booking RV sites was not due to a lack of advanced planning because according to The Dyrt, over half of RVers and trailer campers booked at least a few months ahead in 2021. While those plans may look somewhat different this year due to high gas prices, RV activity remains in high gear for 2022.
About The Dyrt
The Dyrt’s mission is to expand the camping community and help more people enjoy the outdoors. With over 30 million annual camper visits and 4 million user-generated reviews and photos for US campgrounds, The Dyrt is an app for camping and the largest source of camping information. The Dyrt PRO enables campers to plan road trips, find free camping areas on public lands, use the app offline, and more. www.thedyrt.com
Featured image from The Dyrt.