Survey Areas

For this study, we decided to divide the United States into four regions – Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. While we failed to indicate in the actual survey which states belonged to which regions, the groupings are logical and the information for this survey can still be viewed as reliable. Canada was initially included in the survey, however with only 6 Canadian camp respondents, we didn’t have a large enough sample size to include in the final data set.

When it comes to summer camp, we refer to residential camps as those whose campers stay overnight. Day camp attendees arrive at camp in the morning and leave in the evening. Combination Residential/Day Camps offer both sessions, sometimes depending on the time of year but sometimes concurrently.

31%of respondents’ camps charge $1,000 or more per session, while 69% charge less than that.

Nearly 40% of respondents’ camps make more than $1M per year in gross revenue. And in terms of revenues earned, the industry of summer camp is stronger than it’s ever been with over $18 billion streaming through it each year.

Approximately 75% of camps feel dialed-in when it comes to the number of sessions they currently offer, however, a quarter of camps are planning to change things up in 2019.

The data shows that the majority of camps offer greater than 10 programs. There may be a correlation between the number of programs and revenue as well; bigger camps offer more programs and thus increase the number of campers they appeal to, thus increasing their revenue.

For residential camps, there’s no surprise here. Program offerings and staff are what you believe keep kids coming back, year after year.

Opening registration immediately after the season is a great way to capitalize on the post-high of summer camp to try to fill camp for the following summer – and can work especially well if this registration session is limited in some way. Opening (or re-opening) registration in January is when most camps tend to try to fill remaining spots.

One marker of a healthy camp is how quickly registration tends to fill up. Are you waiting until the last minute to fill the final 20% of your open slots? If so, you may consider modifying your strategy by seeking to improve your camp experience to keep kids coming back, opening registration immediately after the season, or marketing earlier to campers and parents.

While email, direct mail, and paid digital help nudge more registrations, nothing compares to word of mouth and connecting with campers and parents on social media.

This is a good sign for the state of the industry; nearly 50% of camps didn’t just see marginal enrollment increases. Between 4 and 15% growth is fantastic. And with 42% of camps staying consistent, it’s safe to say that right now the state of the summer camp industry looks to be on a good trajectory.

Higher tuition without measurable increases in costs translates directly to the bottom line – and almost everyone in the industry raised tuition or kept it the same in 2018. But for those who increased tuition, how much did they increase it?

Nearly a 10% of camps, however, increased by a larger margin of 5-10% – which is significant!

With 3 in 4 camps planning to increase tuition, the pulse on the market shows that camp directors are feeling pretty optimistic about the future. How optimistic?

Another 10% of respondents are going for more aggressive tuition increases.

In a world that’s being overtaken by screen-time, nearly 75% of camps surveyed keep it screen-free. What about those with ‘limited use’ policies?

While some camps – such as coding camps – must use electronics, for more traditional camps the trend is clear: limiting screen time and challenging their counselors and campers to prioritize engaging with each other. This is, in part, why we believe that camp is becoming more important than it’s ever been before.

Most of the industry now understands the significant, tangible benefits of using a paid system to manage their camp. What are the main reasons, however, that they identified as to why?

For the 9% of camps who still use spreadsheets and paper to manage their campers, they estimate that at least 10% of their staff time is spent on registrations and admin tasks.