Modern camping: a study of the criteria and trends that guide decisions

What emerges from listening to those who choose camping: a survey by the TSW Observatory on expectations and needs

When it comes to camping, it’s easy to imagine a defined scenario, one of nature, simplicity, and a spirit of adaptation. However, when we look more closely at how people actually choose today, this image begins to reveal itself as partial.

It’s not just a question of different preferences: it’s the very way we choose that’s changing. Decisions are increasingly tied to the type of trip, the context, and what’s expected from that specific experience. In this scenario, understanding even the most implicit decision criteria becomes crucial for those designing solutions, offers, and services, because that’s often where the final choice is made.

These dynamics also emerge within the TSW Research Observatory, where we continuously analyze behaviors and decision-making processes in different contexts to understand how people’s needs and expectations evolve over time. In this case, our research team focused on camping, to closely observe how the logics of choice are changing and what drives them today.

Surveys as a new strategic listening tool

To observe the more situated level of choice, we used short, targeted surveys on specific behaviors and decisions. This allowed us to delve into the concrete nature of choices and explore how people evaluate alternatives and what they exclude a priori.

This type of listening allowed us to identify recurring dynamics and pinpoint what truly guides decisions today. The analysis does not provide a complete picture, but is based on concrete choices made in the face of real alternatives. This also allows the contradictions within them to emerge, and it is precisely there that the most useful insights lie.

From these signals, a rather clear tension emerges: the desire to be in nature coexists with very specific expectations regarding the conditions in which this experience must occur.

The evolution of the tent (or almost): when comfort redefines adventure

Only 12% of people cite a traditional tent as their preferred accommodation, but this figure alone doesn’t tell the story. If we consider this data alongside others, the picture changes: 36% prefer bungalows or mobile homes, 20% opt for glamping, and 24% simply answer, “It depends on the trip.”

It’s precisely this “it depends” that makes the difference, because it doesn’t indicate a substitution, but a more profound change. People no longer identify with a single modality: they choose based on the context, the duration, the company, and the type of experience they want.

The tent isn’t disappearing, but it’s losing its symbolic value. It no longer represents “real camping,” but one of the possible variations of the experience, chosen when it’s consistent with the expectations of the trip.

Nature and comfort are no longer in opposition

Looking at the motivations, the direction remains fairly clear: 38% seek nature and the outdoors, 25% freedom and a personal pace, while 16% indicate a desire for an experience that maintains a certain level of comfort, while remaining outside the confines of a hotel.

The key isn’t so much what people are looking for, but what they’re no longer willing to accept. Cleanliness, for example, is a very clear indicator: 65% consider it non-negotiable, and 51% reject a facility if it has dirty bathrooms.

Here, a significant shift occurs: some aspects are no longer evaluation criteria, but rather access conditions that don’t enhance the experience, they simply make it possible.

Camping thus ceases to be a space for adaptation and becomes a space for selection: discomfort is no longer accepted as part of the experience, but what constitutes an “outdoor experience” is being redefined.

The paradox of sociality: together but distant

Sociality also reveals a less obvious but significant change. Only 1% cite it as the main motivation, while 13% consider silence and privacy non-negotiable.

This doesn’t mean that people reject relationships, but that they don’t want to endure them. Camping remains a shared experience, but sociality loses its centrality and becomes something that can be modulated.

It’s a possible, not a mandatory, presence: people want to be able to choose when to connect and when to maintain distance, without compromising the experience.

Greenery as a distinctive element: the care of natural spaces

Another significant finding concerns the care of green spaces, cited by 37% as a distinctive element. This is an interesting aspect because it surpasses elements often considered more “visible,” such as ease of check-in (25%), food & drink (12%), or declared sustainability (10%).

This suggests that simply offering a natural setting is not enough: what matters is how it is maintained. People seek natural and well-maintained environments that convey authenticity without creating uncertainty.

A well-maintained space communicates care and reliability; conversely, a neglected space introduces doubt that can compromise the overall perception of the experience.

Digital detox? Balanced connection

67% use technology primarily to navigate and organize their trip, while a smaller share considers it central or, conversely, irrelevant.

Therefore, no real logic of rejection emerges. Rather, an implicit request emerges: technology should be present when needed, but should not become the center of the experience.

At the same time, it remains one of the most divisive elements, a sign that expectations are not uniform and that there are different ways to integrate technology into the experience.

The value of silence: when noise impairs the experience

Silence is one of those elements that are rarely explicitly mentioned, but become evident when they are missing. Only 10% cite noise as a reason for exclusion, yet silence is considered among the aspects considered non-negotiable.

More than a contradiction, it is a coherent dynamic: silence is taken for granted, but when it is missing, the experience changes radically and everything else fades into the background.

Modern services: clear priorities and clear segmentation

Overall, a fairly clear structure emerges. Some elements function as the foundation of the experience and are considered non-negotiable, often taken for granted, while others come into play in a more variable way, depending on the type of stay and expectations.

The former include, in particular:

• cleanliness
• silence
• adequate environmental conditions

In all other aspects, however, needs differ: camper services, pet-friendly solutions, or organized activities are relevant only to some.

Rather than a single camper profile, a plurality of needs emerges that share some basic requirements but are distributed differently across all other aspects.

Killer campsites: the numbers that speak for them

When you ask what leads to rejecting a property, some very clear priorities emerge. These are factors that directly impact the decision, and among them are:

• 51% dirty bathrooms
• 15% unexpected extra costs
• 10% nighttime noise
• 10% heat or lack of shade
• 8% information that is inconsistent with reality

More than simple preferences, these factors function as “thresholds”: if exceeded, trust is lost and the experience loses value, regardless of everything else.

The future lies in balance

Overall, the data doesn’t reveal a break, but rather an evolution in the way people construct experiences.

The modern camper seeks:

• nature, but within managed boundaries
• adventure, but without sacrificing comfort
• sociality, but only when desired
• technology, but as infrastructure, not as the protagonist
• authenticity, but without primitive tendencies

Nature remains central; what’s changing is simply the choice of how to experience it: in specific conditions, without discomfort, and in contexts that facilitate its enjoyment.

Camping thus loses its role as a test of endurance and becomes an experience that must function on certain foundations, now taken for granted, from which everything else is built.

The data emerging from this survey help identify patterns and formulate hypotheses. When integrated with qualitative research and direct observation, they become a concrete basis for guiding decisions and designing more effective experiences, in a balance that concerns not only camping but many of the experiences people have today.