The October edition of Kampgrounds of America (KOA)’s Monthly Research Report projects that 12 million households – 31 percent of active camping households – plan to snowbird camp this winter. Additionally, 6.9 million camping households anticipate taking at least one winter camping trip before the end of the year. Following the April release of KOA’s annual North American Camping Report, ongoing monthly research indicates the popularity of camping will continue through the winter of 2022.
Looking ahead to the snowbird season, about 17 percent of all campers who have historically taken trips to southern locals plan to do so again this year. Bolstering this number, 9 percent of camping households are projected to try snowbirding for the first time. It is estimated that 2.4 million active households will spend three or more months snowbird camping. Another 9.6 million will take shorter snowbird trips of one to two weeks.
“Snowbird campers are an important part of our business so seeing the new interest is encouraging,” said Toby O’Rourke, KOA’s president and CEO. “The continued effects of COVID can have more of an impact on snowbird guests, but indicators are pointing to a healthy season for southern camping locations. We’re ending a particularly strong year of camping on a high note.”
This year, 24 percent of snowbirds are planning to head south before the Thanksgiving holiday. Another 24 percent and 23 percent will leave between Thanksgiving and Christmas and after Christmas, respectively. The most popular locations for snowbird travel are Florida, California and Arizona.
“In addition to looking at overall snowbird business, we’ve been particularly interested in Canadian travel,” said O’Rourke. “Prior to the opening of the land border, our research indicated that 16 percent of Canadian snowbirds were still planning to travel south, while another 16 percent were taking a ‘wait and see’ approach. With the change in travel restrictions, we expect even healthier Canadian business. While the overall incidence of snowbirding is lower among Canadians, we are happy and ready to see the return of these guests at our campgrounds.”
In addition to snowbird camping, KOA projects that 6.9 million camping households will take at least one winter camping trip before the year ends. A full 17 percent of these campers plan to take more trips and spend more nights camping this fall and winter due to the continued effects of COVID-19.