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Did you Know? Interesting Statistics About Canadian Campers

With pandemic restrictions in place, Canadians experienced challenges to their camping trips last year. The results are in and you might be surprised by a few of them.
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RVing looks increasingly popular with over half of all campers in a survey wanting to try it.

Each year, The 2022 North American Camping Report sponsored by Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA) gives a glimpse into the camping habits of people in Canada and the United States. KOA asks households about their camping experiences in the previous year as well as what they are planning on doing in the upcoming season.

10 Interesting Canadian Stats from the 2022 Report

This year’s KOA survey results, which looked at camping activity from 2021, has a few interesting Canadian-specific statistics included. Here are some of the highlights from the report:

1) It is interesting that the number of Canadian campers who were surveyed camped less in 2022 (64%) than they did in 2020 (68%) and 2019 (71%). The report authors suggest that COVID-19 travel restrictions may have influenced those numbers.

2) Canadians who did camp know what they are doing, though. Over three quarters of Canadian campers (77%) identified themselves as being experienced campers.

3) Not everyone camps as much as you would think. Only 37% of Canadian campers took more than three camping trips last year while 35% only camped once.

4) While it seemed like everyone was camping all the time last year, in fact only 16% of those surveyed said that they had camped more than usual in 2021. Half of the respondents said that they camped the same amount as normal.

5) Watch out for full campgrounds this summer. Over a quarter (26%) of Canadian campers plan to take more trips this year than they have in the past.

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Pandemic restrictions meant some changes for campers last years. Image by Pexels from Pixabay

6) Some campers experienced inconveniences while camping due to COVID-19 last year, including overcrowding (32%), newbies getting in their way (37%), understaffed businesses (21%), difficulty with transportation (21%), and mask requirements (26%).

7) A few Canadians tried new types of camping experiencing like glamping (18%), backcountry camping (14%), and overlanding, which is off-road camping (13%).

8) RVers were also ready for new experiences last year. Almost half of RVers survey (49%) said that they had tried out alternative places to park their RV like casinos, random camping, or at music festivals.

9) Only 13% of those surveyed tried RVing for the first time in 2021.

10) It is not surprising that almost two thirds (63%) of Canadians surveyed said that the best part of camping is spending time outdoors. Almost half (40%) enjoy sitting around the campfire while a third (33%) like camping to get away from crowds.

RVs Are Still Extremely Popular

According to the survey, RV sales are expected to continue to increase. Across Canada and the United States, 32% of the non-RV owning campers expressed interest in purchasing their own unit in 2022. More than half of the campers (56%) want to try RVing in some fashion and an impressive 47% of respondents want to try full-time RVing.

To read more about this year’s survey, you can find KOA’s North American Camping Report online.

CPC-logoThis story was made possible by our Community Partners Program. Thank you RV City for helping to expand local news coverage in Alberta. Learn more.

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