NEWS & PRODUCTS INDIANA EXPERIENCES LARGEST ONLINE BOOKING SURGE IN THE U.S Traditional and luxury camping has been taking off during the pandemic, with more than 10 million households in the US going camping for the first time last year, according to Kampgrounds of America (koa.com). Online camping reservations on public lands totalled $3.3 million in 2020, which is a 33% increase when compared to the previous year – a nearly 67% increase compared to five years earlier. California was the top state nationally in terms of online bookings, with people flocking to Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and forests in the Sierras.
Indiana Dunes
Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Texas rounded out the top five states for reservations on public lands. The state of Indiana has seen a 481.3% surge in online camping reservations over the past 5 years – the largest jump in the US – after a transition from first-come, first-served campsites to online booking when the Indiana Dunes became a national park. 9,138 camping spots were reserved via recreation.gov, up 7,566 reservations in 2015. The Indiana Dunes National Park was the most popular camping destination in the state, by the metric of online bookings, according to a new report by outdoorsy.com, an RV rental marketplace. “The increased popularity of camping has been fueled by a combination of long-term trends and more immediate factors related to the pandemic,” Outdoorsy said in its study. “Over the past several years, camping trends such as ‘vanlife’ and ‘glamping,’ as well as the increased availability of wifi and better cell phone service at campgrounds, have helped attract new campers and offered seasoned campers new ways to enjoy the outdoors without completely foregoing modern-day comforts.”
“In particular, Gen-Zers and Millennials are camping in greater numbers and account for an increasing share of all campers. In 2015, members of these generations accounted for 34% of all campers according to KOA. By 2020, this number climbed to 48%.” Nationally, online camping bookings soared 68.1% over the last five years to 3.26 million in 2020. Yosemite National Park was the most popular destination nationwide. Outdoorsy said in its study, ”In addition to these longer-term factors, changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic — such as safety concerns, travel restrictions, and business closures — encouraged a flood of first-time campers. According to KOA, the majority of first-time campers in 2020 decided to do so for reasons directly tied to the pandemic.” Outdoorsy continued, ”Campers that year ventured further from home than in past years, suggesting that Americans increasingly chose to travel by car and camp than travel by airplane and stay in a hotel. Compared to 2015, the percentage of campers who traveled more than 200 miles to camp increased from 17% to nearly 30%.”
SG BLOCKS ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE EXPANSION INTO RV AND GLAMPING INDUSTRY The Adirondack Mountains, an SG Blocks campground location SG Blocks (sgblocks.com) are manufacturers of modular structures and have been selected by HTR Investors (htrinvestors.com) for full-suite engineering and architectural consulting services to create RV and glamping structures. According to a recent press release, these units will be constructed to then be delivered to various campgrounds throughout the U.S, with a contract for approximately 150 units. HTR Investors is a real estate investment company, founded with the goal to expand within the RV and camping industries. “We’re pleased to be working with HTR Investors on its exciting endeavours into the creative RV, camping and glamping space,” says SG Blocks Chairman and CEO Paul Galvin. “This collaboration is a fantastic use of our technology and we anticipate an innovative and fruitful working relationship.” HTR Managing Partner, Minh Tran, says, “SG Blocks has developed a unique and scalable product that we feel fits well with our internal goals towards sustainability and low impact development, and that supports and embraces the communities we engage.”
The initial campground locations will be focused in such places as Moab (Utah), Estes Park (Colorado), the Berkshires (Massachusetts), the NY Adirondacks, Egg Harbour (Wisconsin) and Kerrville (Texas). The units will be constructed at SG ECHO’s plant in Durant. “We knew from our initial consultation with HTR Investors that their vision of
interactive, unique, experiential properties that are sustainable and nomadic in nature aligned with ours.” explains Perry Ludy, sales and business development consultant for SG Blocks. She continues, “With this, these initial selected locations are only growing in popularity, and we’re pleased to be a part of that.”
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