Australians love caravanning and camping. They see it as a great way to experience Australia’s open spaces and natural beauty.
The caravan and camping sector is a major contributor for the economy. This is due to:
- Australia’s favourable climate
- an extensive network of camping grounds and sites around the country.
This caravan and camping data is from the National Visitor Survey (NVS) methodology.
The number of caravan and camping trips (including glamping) continues to grow. In the year ending 2023, Australians took 15.3 million caravan and camping trips. Spend was at $14.3 billion. This exceeded pre-covid levels and was at an all-time high.
Of these trips, commercial caravan parks and camping grounds accounted for:
- 55% of trips
- 61% of nights
- 67% of spend.
Caravan and campervan registrations across the nation has steadily grown over the last decade. In 2023 there were almost 859,000 caravans and campervans registered. This was a 21% increase since 2019 and an all-time record.
Caravan and camping statistics
2023 was the highest year on record for caravan and camping trips.
Total trips
In the year ending December 2023:
- caravan and camping domestic overnight trips totalled 15.3 million
- travellers spent 60.7 million nights travelling with 90% of nights in regional Australia
- travellers spent $14.3 billion for their caravan and camping travel. Of the $10.9 billion spent while travelling, travellers spent 87% or $9.5 billion in regional Australia
- almost one in every 5 domestic overnight trips was a caravan and camping trip.
Holiday trips
In the year ending December 2023:
- 77% of caravan and camping trips were for holidaying
- a further 10% of trips were to visit friends and relatives, while 10% were for business/employment
- 91% of holiday trips and nights, and 90% holiday spend ($7.6 billion) were in regional Australia
- commercial sites accounted for 56% of all caravan and camping holiday trips, 64% of nights and 68% of spend.
Impacts on regional Australia
Caravan and camping trips are a major contributor to regional Australia.
In regional Australia, in the year ending December 2023, caravan and camping trips accounted for:
- one in every 3 domestic overnight holiday trips
- one in every 3 holiday nights
- one in every 5 dollars spent on holiday trips.
Read more
- Read the National Visitor Survey methodology.
- Find data tables and other publications on our Data and research page.
- We produce a quarterly snapshot of the National Visitor Survey.