Indiana Campgrounds Anticipate Busy Summer Season

This 2022 summer season is expected to be a record-breaking season for campgrounds in Indiana and across the country.

As per a report, this prediction is among the findings of the recently released 2022 North American Camping Report.

Sponsored by Kampgrounds of America Inc., the annual study examines North American campers’ camping patterns and preferences. The current report looks at how camping is helping to revive the country’s tourism industry following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world, and the travel industry, to a stop in 2020. Flights were canceled, cruise ships remained at port, and leisure travelers shifted plans,” the report notes of the early days of the pandemic. “Still wanting to plan vacations, the hunt for alternatives began. Camping, with its open spaces and natural social distancing, provided the perfect way to venture out.

“Already experiencing annual growth, camping saw an incredible rise in popularity among leisure travelers amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report adds. “Campgrounds achieved record-setting occupancy, glamping boomed, and RVs became more popular than ever. Camping was big.”

According to the study, these trends remained the same throughout the 2021 camping season, with a growing number of leisure travelers going out in the great outdoors.

For instance, the report revealed that 5 million households went on at least one camping trip in 2021 compared to 48.2 million in 2020 and 42 million in 2O19, which was before the pandemic.

Angie Capp, who helps oversee the management of the Elkhart County KOA Holiday campground in Middlebury, Indiana, counts herself among the campground owners who have reaped the benefits of the meteoric growth in popularity of camping, pointing out that the role COVID-19 had played and continues to play in driving the industry boom.

“I mean, have talked to people here who have come in, and quite a few people have told me their story about how they’ve sold their house, their home; they’re living full-time in their campers, their travel trailers, fifth wheels, whatever unit they have, and they’re traveling the United States,” Capp said of the pandemic’s impact.

“COVID kind of showed them and their workplace that they could work remotely, and I’ve seen people with very young children living in RVs, traveling the United States, and doing the homeschooling and working from their campers. And then you have the retired people who said with COVID, it was kind of a no-brainer for them to make the change as well.”

According to the North American Camping Report, all current forecasts point to the boom in camping continuing into 2022 and beyond.

“Camping provided an opportunity for North American residents to seek solace in the outdoors, distancing themselves from the stressors of everyday life while spending quality time with family and friends,” the report adds.

The prediction of a vast 2022 camping season seems to be in line with the recent release of Campground Industry Market Analysis, a comprehensive report by the RV Industry Association that detailing the availability of campsites and campground amenities at federal, state, municipal, and private campgrounds across the United States.

“With the significant influx of new RVers in recent years, the data in the report clearly indicates that both the public and private campground sectors within the ‘Outdoor Hospitality’ industry need to continue to grow, expand, and redevelop their supply of facilities to keep pace with consumer demand,” the report said.

This story originally appeared on The Goshen News.