After several decades of consistent growth in outdoor recreation, we are seeing significant decline in a relatively large number of activities. The National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (US) looked at 60 outdoor recreation activities from 1999 to 2008. An analysis by Ken Crodell, Carter Betz and Grary Green (reference at end of blog) found:
- that the total number of people who participated in one or more of 60 outdoor recreation activities grew by 4.4% from 1999 to 2008 - from an estimated 208 million to 217 million
- at the same time, the number of days of participation across all participants and activities increase from 67 billion to 84 billion, up approximately 25%
- strong evidence that some of the more traditional activies are losing popularity: picnicking, visiting historic sites, hunting, downhill skiing, horsebackriding on trails, sailing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and diving
- strong evidence that other outdoor activities are becoming more popular: walking, family gatherings, viewing/photographing nature, visiting beaches, visiting farms, driving motor vehicles off road, kayaking and snowboarding.
The table below shows the percentage change from 1999/2001 to 2005/2008 in both the number of US participants in each activity and in the total days spent by these individuals. The listing is in descending order of overall percentage change in total days devoted to each activity.
Activity |
% change # participants ('99/01 - '05/08) |
% change total participant days ('99/01-'05/08) |
visited farm or agric. setting view/photograph flowers, etc. view/photograph natural scenery drive off-road view/photograph other wildlife view/photograph birds kayaking visit waterside besides beach backpacking snowboarding rock climbing visit nature centres, etc. big game hunting mountain climbing visit a beach sightseeing walk for pleasure family gatherings outdoors visit a wilderness primitive camping developed camping anadromous fishing motorboating warmwater fishing caving swimming in lakes, ponds, etc. gather mushrooms, berries, etc. small game hunting rafting drving for pleasure surfing waterskiing use personal watercraft rowing coldwater fishing visit prehistoric sites cross-country skiing saltwater fishing snorkeling visit historic sites downhill skiing picnicking canoeing sailing migratory bird hunting day hiking snowmobiling scuba diving mountain biking horseback riding on trails snowshoeing windsurfing bicycling boat tours or excurions horseback riding ice fishing ice skating outdoors orienteering sledding view/photograph fish |
20.2 25.8 14.1 18.6 21.3 19.3 63.1 1.6 -0.6 7.3 -5.5 5.0 12.8 -12.5 10.4 4.1 9.6 4.2 3.0 -2.0 2.7 -0.4 3.9 7.3 8.9 4.0 16.1 -0.3 -16.8 3.1 29.9 5.5 -4.1 -6.3 -2.1 2.4 -39.2 9.9 5.1 -4.5 -14.8 -1.4 2.3 -6.5 -16.2 6.8 -29.7 -9.0 -8.0 -8.2 -11.8 -19.1 7.7 10.7 4.9 -14.5 -21.3 58.6 -6.5 16.8 |
100.2 77.8 60.5 56.1 46.9 37.6 29.4 28.1 24.0 23.9 23.8 23.2 21.2 20.5 16.3 14.0 13.9 13.7 12.8 12.1 9.3 7.6 7.3 5.6 3.3 2.2 1.9 -0.7 -1.0 -1.1 -1.1 -3.9 -4.3 -6.5 -7.0 -7.3 -7.8 -11.0 -12.4 -15.2 -15.7 -17.2 -17.9 -18.1 -18.8 -20.9 -27.4 -31.0 -32.7 -35.2 -36.6 -39.5 na na na na na na na na |
Source: Ken Cordell, Carter Betz and Gary Green, 'Outdoor Recreation Activity Trends: What's Growing, What's Slowing?', A Recreation Research Report in the IRIS Series (Internet Research Information Series, September 2008)
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