Bring your Phone and Laptop......Spend more Time Camping!
Published on Apr 22, 2016
More than 1 million households in North America started camping last year….
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The research findings suggest that not only is there an increase in African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American representation overall, but among new campers for 2015, indicating that this new generation of campers is truly multicultural.
The release explained relaxation and stress relief are the top reasons people camp, one in five campers say that camping allows them to spend more time vacationing each year, and access to technology may be promoting greater mobility among campers.
Diversity in the outdoors is slowly increasing, Notably, the results of this year’s North American Camping Report show that the distribution of new campers is much more aligned with overall population figures for ethnicity. Email usage while camping is down overall, campers who check their email while camping spend on average three additional days camping, reinforcing the notion that technology is allowing people to camp more without the anxiety of being disconnected.
The adage that people should use camping as an opportunity to disconnect from technology is not holding true, researchers discovered. Use of technology while camping, including mobile phones and internet, in fact, is allowing people to spend more time camping and enjoying the outdoors each year.
A majority of campers (88 percent) bring their mobile phones with them when camping.
Wi-Fi continues to rank as a top campground amenity and expectations for free Wi-Fi are dramatically impacting campground selection. Campers who expect free Wi-Fi are three times more likely to be influenced by its presence.
Campers that spend time going on line spend on average three additional days per year camping when compared to those who do not.
The use of technology while camping is most common among millennials. Millennial campers are far and away the most likely to say they plan to camp more in 2016.
According to these younger campers, spending time with friends and family, the desire to explore new areas, an increase in free time, and decreased gas prices have the most impact on their decision to camp more this year.
