Pandemic Pushed People Outdoors — A Record Number Of Them In RVs

You weren’t just imagining seeing more RVs on the road and filling campgrounds over the past two pandemic summers.

Many Americans appear to be changing how they vacation under the pall of the COVID-19 epidemic, eschewing hotels and urban areas and flocking to RV camping and more rural vacations like never before.

That’s according to data from the RV industry that combines annual sales and surveys of Americans who are speaking with their money and buying RVs at an unprecedented rate.

According to a recent survey by Go RVing, a partnership between the RV Industry Association and the RV Dealers Association, RV ownership is at a record high, with 11.2 million households owning an RV in 2021. That’s up 62% over 6.9 million households in 2001 and 26% more than 8.9 million RV-owning households a decade ago.

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Part of the RV rev-up is the massive influx of retiring baby boomers into the RV market, with time and money on their hands and a desire to get out and explore. But it's not just the gray-haired crowd. The survey found that 18- to 34-year-olds are the fastest-growing demographic of RVers, making up an estimated 22% of RV travelers in 2021. And 51% of RVers are under 55.

Read the full article from the Duluth News Tribune here.