A compiled reference of 38 verified statistics on the outdoor hospitality industry, from RV park and campground economics and the shift toward cabins and glamping, to the amenities guests now expect, the accessibility scoping rules operators must meet, and the fire risk that comes with recreational vehicles on a property. Every figure is drawn from a named public source (KOA, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Fire Administration, the U.S. Access Board, Global Market Insights, and others) and independently checked before publishing.
Key statistics
8 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Outdoor hospitality is a large, stabilizing industry: camping spend hit $61 billion in 2024, guests increasingly choose serviced cabins and glamping over rough sites, and they expect on-site amenities, WiFi, and accessible options. Those expectations, plus the fire risk of RVs and the accessibility rules that apply to camping units, push more of the operator's job onto documented property condition.
Camping generated $61 billion in total expenditures in 2024, up from $52 billion in 2023.
The outdoor recreation economy was 2.4% ($696.7 billion) of U.S. GDP in 2024.
The U.S. has about 4,500 RV parks and campgrounds with combined revenue of about $3 billion.
The global glamping market was worth $2.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to hit $5.6 billion by 2035.
Private campgrounds and glamping resorts were 31% of all camping nights in 2024, a record share.
32% of first-time campers now choose a cabin or glamping stay, up nearly 1.7 million households since 2019.
An average of 4,200 RV fires a year (2018-2020) caused about $60.3 million in annual loss.
Available WiFi can add up to nine additional camping nights per camper.
How we built this report
Every figure was compiled in September 2026 from named public sources and verified against the original before publishing.
- Compiled from primary sources
Industry survey reports, government economic and fire-incident data, an ADA accessibility standard, a market-research report, and a small-business clearinghouse snapshot.
- Only explicitly stated figures
We include only numbers a named source states directly, and attribute each inline at the point it appears.
- Disagreements shown, not averaged
Where two sources give different industry-revenue figures, we show both rather than blending them into a false single number.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Scope note: many of these are survey and market-research figures, not an audited census. Survey figures reflect self-reported behavior, and market-size estimates vary between firms. Individual figures should be confirmed against the specific source before use in high-stakes work.
The outdoor hospitality industry, by the numbers
All 38 figures, grouped into five themes, each from a named public source and independently verified.
Industry size and economics
According to KOA's annual camping and outdoor hospitality report (2025) (koa.com), camping generated $61 billion in total expenditures in 2024, up from $52 billion the year before, and camper daily spend hit an all-time high of $200 per day. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024 release) (bea.gov), the broader outdoor recreation economy was 2.4 percent of U.S. GDP. According to SBDCNet's small-business snapshot (2026) (sbdcnet.org), the RV park and campground trade is a fragmented, roughly $3 billion industry, though a separate estimate it cites puts revenue far higher, so we show both.
Statistic 1
Camping and outdoor hospitality generated $61 billion in total expenditures in 2024, up from $52 billion in 2023.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 2
Camper daily spending reached an all-time high of $200 per day in 2024, an increase of $43 year over year.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 3
Glampers spent the most of any camper type, averaging $251 per person per day, about 22% more than RVers.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 4
The outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.4 percent ($696.7 billion) of U.S. GDP in 2024.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024)
Statistic 5
Outdoor recreation's share of state GDP in 2024 ranged from 6.1% in Hawaii to 1.0% in the District of Columbia.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024)
Statistic 6
The U.S. RV parks and campgrounds industry includes about 4,500 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $3 billion.
SBDCNet small-business snapshot (2026)
Statistic 7
A separate estimate cited in the same snapshot (IBISWorld) puts industry revenue at approximately $10.9 billion.
SBDCNet snapshot citing IBISWorld (2026)
Statistic 8
The industry is fragmented: the 50 largest companies account for about 30% of industry revenue.
SBDCNet small-business snapshot (2026)
Statistic 9
The global glamping market was valued at USD 2.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 5.6 billion by 2035 (CAGR 8.3%).
Global Market Insights (2026)
Statistic 10
The top five glamping operators (led by Huttopia) held a combined 11.7% of the global glamping market in 2025.
Global Market Insights (2026)
Spending per person per day, 2024
Younger campers spend more on site
According to KOA's 2025 report (koa.com), daily spend per person rose with youth.
What this means: Outdoor hospitality is a real, growing hospitality category, not a niche. Rising per-guest spend and the pull toward serviced, higher-priced glamping stays raise what a guest expects the property to look like on arrival, which raises the cost of a condition problem the operator missed.
Participation and the shift to cabins and glamping
According to KOA's 2025 report (koa.com), the number of camping households has grown 67% since 2014 and peaked at over 58 million in 2022. The bigger operational story is the mix: private campgrounds and glamping resorts hit a record 31% of all camping nights in 2024, and nearly a third of first-time campers now start in a cabin or glamping unit rather than a tent, a shift toward accommodations an operator actually has to clean, furnish, and inspect.
Statistic 11
The number of U.S. camping households has grown 67% since 2014.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 12
Camping participation peaked at over 58 million households in 2022.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 13
Private campgrounds and glamping resorts accounted for 31% of all camping nights in 2024, the highest share since the report began.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 14
RV camping peaked at nearly 15 million households in 2022 and returned to nearly 10 million in 2024.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 15
32% of first-time campers now choose cabin or glamping accommodations, an increase of nearly 1.7 million households since 2019.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 16
31 percent of new campers in 2024 were glampers.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 17
A decade ago 70% of campers under 30 camped in tents; today just over half do.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 18
One million new households are projected to try camping for the first time in 2025.
KOA camping report (2025)
What this means: Every point of share that moves from a bare tent site to a furnished cabin or glamping unit is another built asset with soft goods, plumbing, and finishes that a guest can damage and a turnover has to reset. The industry's growth is concentrated in exactly the units that need documented inspection between stays.
What guests expect: amenities, WiFi, and technology
According to KOA's 2025 report (koa.com), 56% of new campers now prefer locations that offer a full range of amenities, a reversal from before 2020 when 60% of first-timers chose bare-bones sites. Guests reward the operators that deliver: available WiFi alone can add up to nine camping nights per camper. They also arrive with technology in hand, with 62% using AI to plan a trip in 2024, and with expectations around pets and EV charging that turn into physical things on the property to maintain and check.
Statistic 19
56% of new campers now prefer locations that offer a full range of amenities (on-site staff, restrooms, accommodations, recreation).
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 20
Before 2020, 60% of first-time campers chose campgrounds with limited services and amenities.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 21
Available WiFi can add an average of up to nine additional camping nights per camper.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 22
Gen Z campers report WiFi adds 10.4 additional camping days per year, the most of any generation.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 23
62% of campers used AI to plan a trip in 2024, up from 46% in 2023.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 24
53% of campers camp with dogs, and 44% consider pet amenities extremely important.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 25
19% of campers say having an EV charging station is important to them while camping.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 26
The most important sustainability practices campers name are recycling (53%), water conservation (45%), and wildlife conservation (45%).
KOA camping report (2025)
What this means: The amenity race adds physical infrastructure (bathhouses, pools, dog areas, EV chargers, WiFi gear) that guests notice when it fails. A serviced campground now looks more like a small hospitality property, and the standard for "arrived clean and working" that mid-market rental and hotel operators already document with photos increasingly applies here too.
Accessibility and licensing
Accessibility is both a rule and a demand signal. The 2015 ABA Accessibility Standards set a scoping table (Section F244.2) for how many camping units must have mobility features. According to KOA's 2025 report (koa.com), campers are more likely than leisure travelers to report a physical or neurodivergent need, and more than a fifth of camping trips are multigenerational with older relatives needing accessible features. Licensing adds another layer: some states, such as Illinois, require annual inspection and licensing of campgrounds.
Statistic 27
Under the 2015 ABA Standards (F244.2), 1 camping unit requires 1 accessible unit; 2 to 25 require 2; 51 to 75 require 4; and 201-plus require 8 plus 2% of the number over 200.
U.S. Access Board, ABA Standards F244.2 (2015)
Statistic 28
Campers are more likely than leisure travelers to report a mobility need: 33% versus 25% report serious difficulty walking or basic mobility.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 29
22% of camping trips involve multigenerational families, with older relatives requiring accessible features.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 30
28% of campers say accessible options are important at a campground.
KOA camping report (2025)
Statistic 31
Illinois state law requires the Department of Public Health to inspect and license campgrounds annually.
Illinois Dept. of Public Health (Recreational Area Code)
What this means: Accessible units and licensing inspections both require the operator to prove condition, not just claim it. A dated photo record of an accessible cabin's clearances, grab bars, and routes, or of the sanitation and electrical systems a state inspector reviews, is the difference between passing on the first visit and a re-inspection.
RV fire and safety risk
According to the U.S. Fire Administration's RV fire data snapshot (2022) (usfa.fema.gov), an estimated average of 4,200 RV fires a year were reported to fire departments from 2018 to 2020, causing an average of 15 deaths, 125 injuries, and $60.3 million in loss annually. Most of that risk traces to equipment and the engine bay, not the living space, and it clusters in the summer months when parks are busiest, which is why condition of what rolls onto a lot matters to the operator, not just the owner.
Statistic 32
An estimated average of 4,200 RV fires were reported to U.S. fire departments each year from 2018 to 2020.
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 33
RV fires caused an estimated average of 15 civilian deaths, 125 civilian injuries, and $60.3 million in loss annually (2018-2020).
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 34
The average dollar loss per RV fire was $15,350 (2018-2020).
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 35
85% of RV fires were in units that were not self-propelled; 15% were self-propelled.
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 36
Unintentional causes started 36% of RV fires; failure of equipment or a heat source caused another 15%.
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 37
The engine, running gear, and wheel area was the leading area of origin, at 26% of RV fires.
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
Statistic 38
RV fires peaked in July at 11%, with May through August accounting for 38% of the year's fires.
U.S. Fire Administration (2022)
What this means: The fire risk concentrates in equipment failures during the peak season, exactly when a park is fullest. Operators cannot inspect a guest's engine, but they can document the condition of their own powered assets (rental units, hookups, bathhouses, camp shelters) on a schedule, so a loss has a paper trail and a maintenance gap gets caught before July.
Claims we could not independently verify
A few widely repeated outdoor-hospitality figures could not be traced to a primary source we were able to fetch, so we are not stating them as verified. We note them here because writers keep citing them.
Unverified
The claim that outdoor hospitality "generated $1.2 trillion in economic output and supports 5 million jobs" appears in SBDCNet's snapshot attributed to an industry association, but we could not reach that association's primary release to confirm it.
Attributed to OHI via SBDCNet; primary not confirmed
Unverified
A "$110 billion global camping and caravanning market by 2029" figure is cited by SBDCNet to another research firm whose primary report we could not fetch. Our glamping market figures come from Global Market Insights, which we read directly.
Attributed to a third-party firm via SBDCNet; primary not confirmed
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
How big is the outdoor hospitality and camping industry?
Camping and outdoor hospitality generated $61 billion in total expenditures in 2024, up from $52 billion in 2023, according to KOA (koa.com). The broader outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.4 percent ($696.7 billion) of U.S. GDP in 2024, per the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (bea.gov).
How many RV parks and campgrounds are there in the United States?
The U.S. RV parks and campgrounds industry includes about 4,500 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $3 billion, according to SBDCNet's 2026 small-business snapshot (sbdcnet.org). The industry is fragmented: the 50 largest companies account for about 30 percent of revenue.
How big is the glamping market?
The global glamping market was valued at USD 2.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 5.6 billion by 2035, a compound annual growth rate of 8.3 percent, according to Global Market Insights (gminsights.com).
How many RV fires happen each year and what do they cost?
An estimated average of 4,200 recreational vehicle fires were reported to U.S. fire departments each year from 2018 to 2020, causing an average of 15 civilian deaths, 125 civilian injuries, and $60.3 million in loss annually, according to the U.S. Fire Administration (usfa.fema.gov). The average loss per RV fire was $15,350.
How many accessible camping units does a campground need?
Under the 2015 ABA Accessibility Standards (F244.2), a facility with 1 camping unit must provide 1 accessible unit, 2 to 25 units require 2, 51 to 75 require 4, and 201-plus units require 8 accessible units plus 2 percent of the number over 200, per the U.S. Access Board (access-board.gov).
Data sources
Every figure traces to one of these named public sources, each checked against the original before publishing. Sources are named at the publisher level and shown by root domain only; we do not hyperlink external sources.
U.S. Fire AdministrationNFIRS recreational vehicle fires data snapshot (2022)usfa.fema.gov
U.S. Access BoardABA accessibility standards, camping facilities scoping (2015)access-board.gov