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BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer and usually kicks off camping season for many adventurers. With gas prices soaring and COVID restrictions easing, many people will be enjoying the great outdoors again.
Campers and outdoor enthusiasts are ready to head out to campsites over this Memorial Day weekend. Camping staff said RV reservations for this weekend have been booked since March and interest has continued to grow even before the pandemic pushed people outside.
“You know we’ve been on an upward trend, even before COVID. So each year is busier than the last, so it shows that people love the park, and that great we love to see people outdoors, ” said the General Sibley Facilities Specialist Martha Willand.
Tent space is still available but there is a waitlist for RVs for this weekend, and the rest of the summer is filling up quickly. But campgrounds aren’t the only attractions expecting more visitors this summer. High gas prices and overall inflation might not be enough to keep people closer to home.
“We continue to market the state as an affordable, adventuresome, location and visitors are really looking to do road trips and get to places they haven’t been before which puts us in a good place,” adds Sara Otte-Coleman, director of the Tourism and Marketing Division for the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
Otte-Coleman also says new data shows that the age group buying RVs is getting younger. It’s no longer retirement-aged individuals buying up the homes on wheels, as people in their upper 30′s are the new big buyers in that category. Whatever you plan to do this holiday weekend, the numbers show getting outside is “in.”
For reservation information for Sibley Park or Itineraries for things to do in North Dakota this summer visit the Bismarck Parks and Recreation website and the North Dakota Department of Tourism.
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