56 Million People Plan To Go RVing This Summer – And It’s Not About COVID

Outdoors Exploration, Remote Work/School, and Family Travel are Top Motivations

A recent survey of America’s 180 million leisure travelers found that 31% are planning on going RVing this summer, announced the President and CEO of the RV Industry Association, Craig Kirby.

“More and more Americans are ready to travel this summer and 56 million of them are planning to go RVing in an RV they rent, own, or borrow,” said Kirby. “Even with other forms of travel returning, the desire to use an RV to get outdoors and experience an active outdoor lifestyle is stronger than ever. RVing has been cemented as a mainstream travel option that is here to stay.”

Asked their reasons for considering RV travel, the respondents cited an interest in exploring the great outdoors, flexibility to work or attend school remotely, and a desire to travel with children and family members as their top three motivations. The least popular response was unreadiness to take other kinds of trips.

The survey data reveals 90% of leisure travelers plan to travel this summer and 60% of leisure travelers plan to travel more or the same amount in the next six months. The desire to travel is even stronger among RVers, 91% of whom said they plan on traveling more or the same amount in the next six months.

“Interestingly, a full 10% of current non-RVers plan to travel in an RV this summer,” said Kirby, who noted that a quarter of leisure travelers are considering the purchase of an RV in the coming months. “That’s great news for the RV industry as it strives to meet the record-breaking demand for RVs.”

The survey also showed that RVing is a year-round activity with 65 million Americans planning to take an RV trip in the next year and 34% of leisure travelers planning on renting an RV in the next year.

Commissioned by the RV Industry Association and conducted by Cairn Consulting, 1,276 surveys were completed by a statistically balanced cross section of U.S. leisure travelers. The survey results have an associated margin of error of +/- 2.74 percentage points. Leisure travelers are defined as any U.S. residents who has taken some type of leisure trip in the past 12 months.