Start / News / Fairs & News / Camping season 2022: German campers are drawn to the south again

Camping season 2022: German campers are drawn to the south again

3 min read
  • Camping demand at the beginning of the year significantly higher than last year
  • Campers are again planning and booking their camping holidays in advance
  • Croatia and Italy most popular camping countries, Germany in third place
    High booking volume for camping in the summer months of July and August

PiNCAMP, the ADAC camping portal, has investigated the travel and booking behaviour of German campers for the 2022 camping season. For this purpose, the bookings generated via PiNCAMP and the calls to destinations in the period from January to March 2022 were evaluated. The most important results: German campers are again planning and booking their camping holidays significantly more in advance. Most bookings on PiNCAMP are made in the summer months of July and August. Overall, three times as many bookings for campsites were generated in Q1 2022 as in the same period last year. Demand for destinations in the south of Europe has improved particularly strongly. Whereas Germany was the favourite destination in the previous year, Croatia and Italy took first and second place ahead of Germany at the beginning of 2022.

Camping demand at the beginning of the year significantly higher than in the previous year
In the first quarter of 2021, demand for camping holidays was rather restrained due to the unclear coronal situation and extensive travel restrictions. At the beginning of 2022, on PiNCAMP, the number of campsite bookings and page views (50 per cent increase compared to 2021) are very promising and give hope for a near-normal pre-Corona camping year. There are no differences from the previous year in the average duration of camping holidays with 7.9 nights per campsite stay.

Croatia and Italy return to old popularity
In the Corona years 2020 and 2021, German campers preferred to stay in their own country. Germany was by far the most popular camping destination. With the widespread removal of Corona restrictions on foreign travel, the situation has changed fundamentally. Camping destinations in Southern Europe have returned to the focus of German campers. In the ranking of the most popular camping countries, Croatia and Italy are ahead of Germany. The most popular camping regions are on the Adriatic: Istria (Croatia) and Veneto (Italy). In Germany, camping destinations in the federal states of Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are particularly popular.

Top 5 favourite destinations of German campers
(Basis: page impressions PiNCAMP.de 1 January – 31 March 2022)

  1. Croatia (previous year 3)
  2. Italy (2)
  3. Germany (1)
  4. France (4)
  5. Spain (7)

High booking volume for camping in the summer months
The evaluation of campsite bookings on PiNCAMP shows that especially the summer months are in high demand. Most bookings are made for July and August. The average booking period is 8 to 10 days. But the booking figures for June are also on the rise. Camping expert Uwe Frers, managing director of ADAC Camping GmbH, comments on the current camping development: “The start of the camping season is very positive. And Southern Europe is back on the camping map. We hope for a carefree camping summer like in pre-Corona times.” However, according to Frers, the increasing normalisation of travel behaviour and the increased interest in camping as a form of holiday are leading to bottlenecks at campsites: “There are already only residual capacities in many places for the holiday months of July and August. I advise all campers to secure their desired site in good time.” His tip: “Instead of painstakingly writing to or phoning all the campsites, all you need to do at PiNCAMP is enter your travel dates and destination. All available places are displayed and can be booked directly.” Of the more than 11,000 campsites listed on PiNCAMP, more than 2,500 can already be booked directly online.