Top camping resource, The Dyrt, has released its 2024
Camping Report presented by the All-New Toyota Tacoma.
In partnering with The Dyrt, Toyota can better discover the trends
and patterns shaping the future of camping, given that The Dyrt has over 12
million user-generated reviews, photos and tips for campers.
The report is compiled from the results of surveys conducted
with three groups — 7,000 members of The Dyrt camper community, a
representative sample of 1,000 U.S. residents, and camping property managers
across all 50 states.
The study revealed that an estimated 84.8 million Americans
went camping in 2023, and 5.5 million of those were first-time campers. This
brings the total number of new campers since 2021 to more than 20 million.
As a result, the dramatic growth in camping has increased
demand. In 2023, 45.5 percent of campers reported difficulty booking a site
because a campground was sold out. It was four times harder to find an
available campsite to book than it was in 2019, when just 10.6 percent of
campers reported difficulty.
Yet, this number is down from a peak of 58.4 percent in
2022, likely because campgrounds are responding to that demand. Half of the camping
properties surveyed reported adding sites last year.
“We are in the new golden age of camping,” said The Dyrt CEO
Kevin Long. “The demand for camping has never been greater, but technology is
making it easier to find camping, and property owners are rapidly expanding. As
a result, campers have more options than ever before.”
Interest in RV camping continues to grow, with 46.8 percent
of survey respondents indicating that RV or trailer was their primary type of
camping, an increase of 10.9 percent over 2022. Overland and truck camping also
saw a surge in interest with 7.3 percent of respondents saying they preferred
to four-wheel their way into the outdoors.
Free camping is another trend that continues to grow. The
report found that nearly two-thirds of campers camped for free in 2023, up from
just one-third in 2019.
Last year, The Dyrt launched multiple features to help
campers find free camping, including maps of 19,000 overnight parking, dump and
water station locations and a curated collection of 5,000 car-accessible free
camping locations.
“It’s so fascinating to see dramatic increases in free
camping, RVing and overlanding all in the same year,” says The Dyrt founder
Sarah Smith. “It goes to show that there are so many ways to camp and that
campers continue to explore new ways to enjoy the great outdoors.”
The Dyrt’s 2024 Camping Report presented by The All-New
Toyota Tacoma includes new findings on camping vehicles. Campers listed “truck”
as the most ideal vehicle type for camping, though trucks ranked second behind
SUVs for the type of vehicle most campers own. That may change, however,
because a majority of campers said they plan to purchase a vehicle in the next five
years.
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