Camping was #5 on our list of Top 10 US Activities based on number of participants. Given its importance, I decided to take a look at the demographic and gender trends associated with camping.

Camping Participation by Age & Gender

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Source: National Sporting Goods Association

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Source: National Sporting Goods Association

Some points to note:

  • 47.5 million people took part in some form of overnight camping in 2007.
  • Camping skews somewhat younger – 71.5% of participants are aged 44 or younger. I was a little surprised by this given the popularity of camping for those aged 55+. Even though it is a popular senior activity, when planning shoots, thinking younger may be a better way to go.
  • There is no meaningful gender skew with roughly equal numbers of male & female participants
  • There’s strong youth & adult participation supporting the fact that it’s a popular family activity

I’ll be looking at search trends, top keywords & stock trends in subsequent posts. Stay tuned!