New research from the RV Industry Association points to affordability, scheduling control and pet-friendly travel as central considerations for American holidaymakers this summer.
The RV Industry Association says 37 million Americans plan to go RVing in summer 2026, as travellers weigh road trips and outdoor breaks against rising travel costs, crowded airports and wider uncertainty. Its Summer Travel Survey indicates that flexibility and control over spending are helping RV travel maintain relevance as people reconsider more traditional holiday formats. The findings also point to a travel season shaped by closer-to-home destinations and a preference for experiences that can be adjusted around individual budgets and schedules.
The survey places national parks, scenic routes, beaches and other outdoor destinations among the most popular choices for RV trips. Destinations within a four-to-seven-hour driving window ranked highest, according to the association, while Memorial Day and Fourth of July travel were expected to see higher participation than last summer. That combination of shorter journeys and outdoor access gives the category a clear role in domestic holiday planning without requiring travellers to commit to a fixed itinerary.
Affordability was a particularly strong theme in the research. The RV Industry Association reported that 58% of leisure travellers said they wanted to take an RV trip because it offered a more affordable way to travel, while approximately 3 million Americans were expected to rent an RV during the summer. More than 55% of travellers planned to bring pets on holiday, and the survey recorded the highest intention to travel by RV among Millennials, at 82%, and Gen Z, at 81%.
The results suggest that RV travel is being evaluated not only as a vehicle-based holiday, but also as a way to combine mobility, accommodation and outdoor recreation in one trip. The association said younger travellers were leading activity across trip planning, online RV research and consideration of future ownership, while renters represented an opportunity for people exploring the format before buying. The survey also found that 49% of travellers planned to work remotely from an RV this summer, compared with 46% last summer.
The association linked the summer outlook to several forthcoming travel moments, including the Route 66 Centennial, the America250 celebration and domestic travel surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The research was commissioned by the RV Industry Association and conducted by Cairn Consulting, which completed 1,602 surveys in April among a statistically balanced cross-section of US leisure travellers; the reported margin of error was plus or minus 2.74 percentage points. For the RV Industry Association, the findings reinforce a positioning built around flexibility and value, while leaving the scale of the season’s eventual demand to be determined by travellers’ choices.
