Introduction
The RV resort industry continues to grow, despite setbacks following the 2020–2022 Covid-driven boom. As with almost every industry, the outdoor hospitality segment has experienced increases in development costs and a softening in demand, as evidenced by declining revenue per room starting in 2023. This is primarily due to strong inflation, higher interest rates, and greater economic uncertainty impacting consumer confidence in discretionary spending.
The following is Sage Outdoor Advisory's assessment of current RV resort market trends. For broader industry context, see our 2025 Outdoor Hospitality Industry Overview blog post.
See our RV Resort Industry Complete Guide for comprehensive information.
Market Growth
The RV resort market shows both growth opportunities and challenges in the current environment. The biggest tailwind propelling the industry forward is growing consumer preference, which drives all other factors forward.
According to STR and CBRE hotel reports, the economy and midscale hotel segments have continued to struggle to recover over the last two years, but the upper scale, luxury, and boutique segments have continued to show strong growth and performance. This is consistent in the RV resort market, as the more luxury and upper-scale locations appear to receive robust demand.
Outdoor recreation, state parks, and national parks have enjoyed consistent growth. When normalized for Covid rise and fall, it is typically 2-3% over YoY growth over the past decade.
However, the industry has also seen a softening in demand due to inflation and economic slowdown starting in 2023, as evidenced by declining revenue per room. This reflects broader economic challenges affecting discretionary spending.
Consumer Trends
The following consumer trends are apparent across the entire hospitality industry and are particularly relevant to RV resorts:
- Unique Stays: One-of-a-kind experiences that are authentic and cannot be easily replicated
- Shareable: Experiences that are highly shareable on social media
- Nature Immersion: Nature-based stays and experiences like outdoor adventure, recreation, and national parks
- Disconnection: Escape from the pervasive screens and schedules to reconnect with loved ones, self, and nature
- Wellness: Growth in demand for hot tubs, saunas, cold plunges, yoga, and massage services
- Localized Experiences: Stays that connect and tell the story of local towns, history, founders, and nature
- Long-Term Stays: Growing trend toward extended stays and seasonal residents, particularly in snowbird markets
- Premium Amenities: RVers increasingly seek enhanced amenities and resort-style experiences
These trends reflect a shift toward experiential, authentic, and nature-focused travel that aligns well with the RV resort value proposition.
Industry Trends
Several key industry trends are shaping the RV resort market:
Development and Investment Trends
- In a higher interest rate and higher construction cost environment, many developers continue to look to the outdoor hospitality space as an option to maintain margins
- Institutional interest from large hotel brands for brand partnerships and outright acquisitions remains consistent
- Institutional investment interest outweighs the small and limited supply of large and multi-site RV resort operations
- Development costs have increased significantly, with horizontal development over large areas often more expensive than building vertically
Operational Trends
- Professionalization of operations with more sophisticated business practices
- Enhanced guest experiences focused on premium amenities and services
- Technology integration in booking systems, Wi-Fi expectations, and digital guest experiences
- Staffing challenges in more remote locations, with on-site staff housing becoming a necessity in some areas
- Increased operational costs for laundry, site turnover, and infrastructure maintenance
Market Challenges
- Softening demand due to inflation and economic slowdown starting in 2023
- International travel expected to decrease in the near term due to geopolitical tensions, though this may be offset by less travel abroad for many Americans
- Government spending cuts to national parks, national forests, and wildland conservation areas may curtail historically growing outdoor demand
Investment Trends
Investment trends in the RV resort industry reflect both opportunities and challenges in the current market environment:
Positive Investment Signals
- Institutional interest from large hotel brands for brand partnerships and outright acquisitions remains consistent
- Institutional investment interest outweighs the small and limited supply of large and multi-site RV resort operations
- In a higher interest rate and higher construction cost environment, many developers continue to look to the outdoor hospitality space as an option to maintain margins
- Premium and luxury RV resort segments continue to show strong growth and performance, attracting investment capital
Investment Considerations
- Development costs have increased significantly, requiring careful financial planning and feasibility analysis
- Horizontal development over large areas is often more expensive than building vertically, impacting project economics
- Market softening starting in 2023 requires realistic revenue projections and conservative underwriting
- Operational challenges, including staffing and infrastructure costs, must be factored into investment models
At the end of the day, the RV resort industry is like any other investment space. There are distinct advantages as well as disadvantages. Whether a project succeeds and provides strong investment returns depends entirely on the property, the market, and the operator's ability to execute.