Are camping tent vacations really becoming more popular? Could you be missing out on savings of over 60% off your vacation because of you do not know where to start? Many people are discovering camping tent options close to home to be fun, safe and cheap alternatives to fly-drive-hotel vacations.
Even Recession has not dampened growing of Outdoor Camping
Research in 2000 by Roper Starch large camping tents Inc. for the Outdoor Recreation in America 2000 report published by the Recreation Roundtable found that 19% of Americans hiked in the previous 12 months, 17% camped in tents in campgrounds, 9% backpacked, and 8% camped in the wilderness.
In 2006, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) reported that camping in tents is the seventh most popular recreation activity of the U.S. population age 6 and older. According to the SGMA, over 42.2 million Americans camped in tents in 2009 and this trend is growing at a rate of over 6.5% even with the recession.
Today, there are an estimated 8,000 public and another 8,000 privately-owned campgrounds catering to the needs of 61 million campers using tents, travel trailers, motor homes or other types of RVs in the US.
Similar trends have been reported for Canada and several European countries. 2010 Data for the UK shows that overall camping and caravanning was 78% more popular than visiting Spain.
Contributory factors include:
* Growing interest in green/environmentally friendly and “nature” vacations
* Improvements in camping tents designs by manufacturers – leading to increased popularity of, 3, 4, 5 or 6 person tents, family tents and other luxury tents for those who want to go “glamping” (glamour camping)
* Upgrades to campsites, including shower facilities, electricity and cable, Wi-Fi. Some of the fancier campsites even have water slides, boating, horseback riding and kayaking equipment.
Bargain or Free Campsites Near you
Gone are the days when camping was synonymous to hiking or roughing it out in the wilderness. As indicated above, camping is rapidly becoming an alternative convenient family vacation.
When compared to RVs or the traditional fly-drive-hotel vacations camping in tents typically comes out at a fraction of the cost.