Snowboarding Soars, Boating Steadies, and Bicycling Stalls – A Decade of Trends in U.S. Recreation
Skift Take
It is fascinating to see what outdoor recreation activities say about American society at large, and how Covid changed some activities for a while, while some reverted back to mean.
The American love affair with the outdoors has been a steady contributor to the nation's economy, evolving dramatically over the past decade, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA). We recently wrote about the countrywide and statewide trends.
Looking at the various categories of recreation captured by the data gives a great sense of trends (see the full data set at the end of this story). From 2012 to 2023, the outdoor recreation economy surged, with key activities reflecting broader societal shifts, environmental factors, and even global disruptions like the Covid pandemic.
