RV dealers and manufacturers seeking insights into RV preferences from older, retired consumers have a new source of information to dive into.
Progressive Insurance and Harvest Hosts teamed up to present the RV Travel Trends of 2025 report. The report surveyed more than 2,000 consumers, most of whom are current or former Harvest Hosts members.
The average respondent is over the age of 65 and retired. Nearly one-third of respondents (31%) identified as full-time RVers. The 2025 Go RVing Demographic Study found 6% of all current RV owners are full-timers.
Harvest Hosts Director of Brand Marketing Carrie Price said key takeaways for RV manufacturers and dealers include the opportunity to provide pet-friendly RV features, using affordability as a selling point and relieving RVers’ top anxieties.
Respondents also said they craved the experience RVing provides.
“If you are a dealer trying to sell an RV,” Price said, “sell the experience of RVing versus just the RV.”
Price said pet-friendly RV features are important for the industry, as 52% of respondents travel with pets. Traveling with pets is popular with full-timers and retirees. The survey found younger RVers tend to travel with pets at an even higher rate.
“I have noticed a lot of OEMs creating more pet-oriented things built into the rig, which I think is great,” Price said. “I have traveled with a cat, so where you put the litter box, and having food bowls built in are things to be aware of.”
Five percent of respondents travel with children and 3% travel with both pets and children. RVers who travel with children are more likely to be working full-time, own a travel trailer, have pets and travel one to two months out of the year.
Price highlighted the survey’s findings on RVing’s benefits for families on a budget.
“RVing is a very cost-effective travel method, especially for families,” Price said. “Families traveling in RVs spend less than $8,000 a year, versus a single week at Disney, which could cost about $9,000.”
Thee top factors RVers consider when deciding where to travel are weather (44%), campground availability (45%) and health (39%). RVers’ top anxieties include RV repairs and breakdowns (51%), crowded campgrounds (59%) and lack of campsite availability (53%).
Price said RV manufacturers can relieve some common anxieties by adding preventative measures to models.
“Showcase things in the rig that can prevent or help with those anxieties,” Price said. “When I was looking at RVs, one of the things that sold me on my RV was there were no seams in the roof, so it was like less likely for leaks.”
RVers are making no plans to slow down, with 92% planning to travel the same amount or more this year.
Younger RVers need a bit less time than their older counterparts to plan their travel. Younger RVers said they took two to three weeks ahead of a trip to plan, whereas older RVers plan one to two months ahead of travel.
Lots of RVers chose to go West in 2024, so in 2025 they said they want to explore a new region, with 1 in 4 respondents wanting to visit the Northeast. The East Coast is most popular with RVers 55 and up and gained popularity overall with each age group this year.
RVers prefer to travel to northern regions and national parks. Across all age groups, Alaska remains the No. 1 wish-list destination, with Canada and Yellowstone behind.
Despite the current economic climate, financial anxieties RVers experienced did not impact their travel habits. Nine in 10 respondents (89%) said their travel habits stayed the same this year.
