Thursday, September 9, 2010

Summary of SCR´s Survey - Active Campers


During spring 2006 the researchinstitute of Tourism (Turismen Utredningsinstitute) made a big survey on commission by SCR. The goal of the survey was to meassure the attitude towards camping and the interest of bying or renting a caravan or mobile home and to investigate the group of campers from demography, behaviour and needs.

The survey was based on two different kinds of groups:
1. The non-camper, 20-70 yearolds that do not own or have access to a tent, a caravan, a motorhome or a mobilehouse.

2.  The active camper, owner of the CCS-card (Camping Card Scandinavia) and who stayed on a Camping site sometime during 2005.

A summary of the result of the survey:  

Target group Analysis Camping 

Active campers are defined in the survey as the holder of the CCS (camping card scandinavia) card and has visited a campingsite sometime in 2005. The holders of the card was in average 50 years of age. 
Of Sweden’s population 37% live in any of the three metropolitan regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmo, but only 8% of the active campers live there. The typical campers live in a house in other parts of Sweden’s. It is primarily couples without children and families with dependent children under 18 years that are active campers. Approximately one third consists of couples born in the 40s. 
In addition to camping holidays are charter / holiday in the sun, road trip and the skiing holidays the most popular forms. It is mainly young campers and families with children who go on road trips or on skiing holidays. Young couples without children also like to travel on city break. About one fifth of the campers own or have access to a cottage and one fifth owns a boat. It is mainly older couples without children who have the privilege to own holiday homes, while families with children are more likely to only have access to them. 
Campers are from the avarageincome population. There are few single-person households and single-parent families among the campers. Of the active campers 22% have högskolutbildning which is lower than in the general population. 
Active campers have relatively many vacationdays in a year. We travel primarily in Sweden and spent over 20 000kr a year per household on holidays. Campers travels almost exclusively with their own families. 
A majority of campers live in caravans in the camping sites. Young campers live in tents while the proportion who have motorhomes are higher in older couple without children. Most own their own caravan. Ownership rate is the highest among the elderly. Families with children are more likely to go camping in July while the elderly camp more widespread during the season. 
On average, a camper is willing to travel 56 swedish miles from home. The active Camper visits between 1 and 5 campsites in one season. Some go to the same campsites, while others seek out new ones. Camping is a spontaneous holiday shape. Most books campsite late, the majority book on the same day. There are two things that are important in the choice of campsite. Most important are the servicefacilities at the campsite. There must be a good amount of toilets, showers, laundry / wash rooms, etc., but it is equally important that these facilities are of good quality and that they are fresh. The second most important factor is the possibility to go swimming. 
Before booking a campsite, two-thirds of the campers receive information through the brochure “Camping and cabins in Sweden”. The Internet is also a popular way to gather information. 
Among the active campers, there are few that primarily live in a cottage or camping cabin on the campsite. A majority has tried it,  and even if some see renting a cottage as an option on certain occasions, interest is weak. 

Other facts from the survey...

9% of the active campers have access to a summercabin, 11% owns one.

How the campers get information of different campingsites
77% mentions the brochure “Camping and cottages in Sweden”.
37% gets information from the internet.

Boking a Campingspot
About two thirds book on the same day as they arrive to the Campingsite.
Only 7% book three months or more in advance.

Camping habits
78% live in Caravans
  9% live in tents
  8% live in motorhomes
90% camp in July. (In Sweden, camping is a summer activity.)
The active campers that took part of the survey is much more likely to stay on a camping site than outside one, in the “wild”. 67% did not spend any night camping out in the open.
3 of 4 campers stayed at 1-5 different campingsites.
16% only visited one campingsite this year.
On avarage, campers are willing to travel 56 swedish miles from their homes to a campingsite.
The ones who camp most spontaneous are couples without kids and elderly. They are also more likely to camp during off-season.

In a spontaneous survey, where the testpersons spoke freely, 60% of the active campers said that the servicefacilities (bathrooms etc.) are the most important factor on the campingsites. “Fresch” was a keyword when they discribed bathrooms, washingrooms etc. 
The second most important desire was the surroundings, 25% answered that they wanted closeness to a lake, the sea or a swimmingpool.

No comments:

Post a Comment