The RV Industry Association reported today that 15.3 million Americans plan to travel in RVs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s this year. This represents 12% of the total number of leisure travelers intending to spend the holidays away from home. The new survey of leisure travelers shows the impact these RVers will have on the economies of the locations they visit.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) report last week, reaffirming an increased spending on outdoor recreation. The sector contributed $862 billion to the U.S. economy and employed 4.5 million people in 2021. This is an increase of 31% in gross output and 13% in jobs over 2020.
According to the RV Industry Association’s travel intention study, 29% of millennials and 20% of Gen Z leisure travelers plan on staying in an RV over the holidays. Some of these will be driving to warm-weather campgrounds or to mountain ski resorts, while others will be parked outside their extended families’ homes over the holidays.
“These two studies demonstrate that the RV industry and its customers are vital contributors to America’s economy and all indications are that they will continue to be so,” said RV Industry Association Executive Vice President James Ashurst. “Growth in the industry is being increasingly driven by younger and more diverse RV buyers whose purchases are largely motivated by the desire to experience the great outdoors.”
The survey also showed that finances are one reason people plans to take an upcoming RV trip. RV vacations cost 50% less, according to a study commissioned by RVIA and Go RVing, than comparable hotel and plane ride trips and a third less than hotel and car ride trips.
“Spending time with friends and family is an integral part of the holidays, and we know that whether RVing together for a holiday vacation or traveling in your RV for a holiday visit, spending time with friends and family is a primary reason people are going RVing this holiday season,” Ashurst said.
