COST COMPARISON
Vacations Using Recreation Vehicles Versus Other Types of Vacations
OBJECTIVE
The Go Camping America Committee commissioned PKF Consulting to provide an objective comparison between the cost of a Summer 1994 camping vacation using recreation vehicles and the cost of other types of vacations during that period of time.
FINDINGS
PKF Consulting found that camping vacations using different types of recreation vehicles were the five most economical types of vacations among 12 vacation-types analyzed during Summer 1994. Camping vacations using recreation vehicles were more economical regardless of trip distance, trip duration, or regions of the United States within which vacations took place. This finding parallels the results obtained by Pannell Kerr Forster from its Summer 1984 and Summer 1987 Vacation Cost Comparisons for the Go Camping America Committee.
A listing of the types of vacations analyzed and their costs is presented in Table 1a.
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Table 1a |
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Vacation Type |
Trip Duration |
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|
Transport Mode/Accommodation |
Two Nights |
Three Nights |
Seven Nights |
Fourteen Nights |
Twenty-One Nights |
|
Car/Folding Camping Trailer |
$149 |
$219 |
$483 |
$889 |
$1,413 |
|
Light-Duty Truck/Truck Camper |
152 |
224 |
492 |
916 |
1,441 |
|
Van Conversion |
155 |
229 |
501 |
924 |
1,464 |
|
Light-Duty Truck/Travel Trailer |
158 |
234 |
504 |
924 |
1,461 |
|
Personal Motorhome |
188 |
279 |
590 |
1,059 |
1,704 |
|
Personal Car/Motels or Hotels |
339 |
507 |
1,169 |
2,257 |
3,544 |
|
Intercity Bus/Motels or Hotels |
484 |
745 |
1,589 |
2,871 |
4,534 |
|
Train/Motels or Hotels |
538 |
750 |
1,588 |
2,916 |
4,591 |
|
Airline/Motels or Hotels |
1,338 |
1,798 |
2,918 |
3,976 |
5,835 |
|
Airline/Residence Rental |
N/A |
N/A |
1,543 |
N/A |
5,372 |
|
Cruise Ship Getaway |
N/A |
N/A |
3,310 |
N/A |
5,951 |
|
All-Inclusive Package Vacation |
N/A |
N/A |
4,317 |
6,978 |
N/A |
|
Source: PKF Consulting, 1994 Survey |
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On average, using personally owned vehicles, the cost of RV camping vacation-types found to be most expensive at different trip durations was about one-half that of the comparable car/hotel combination vacation, about 40 percent that of the comparable bus/hotel or train/hotel vacation, and slightly less than 30 percent of the cost of the comparable air/hotel vacation. In addition, the Summer 1994 study found the most expensive vacation in a personal RV to be approximeately one-third the cost of a budget cruise getaway, and less than one-fifth the cost of a domestic all-inclusive getaway for the same type segments. These findings are significant both for cost conscious young families and "empty nesters" interested in planning vacations of maximum value.
METHODOLOGY
The hypothetical travel party used in the vacation cost analysis was a family composed of a mother, father, and their two children--one child under 12 years of age and one child over 12 years of age.
PKF analyzed major costs that would be incurred by the family of four taking 12 different types of vacations including round-trip transportation between each of 30 selected city-pairs in the United States. Data was collected during the Summer 1994. The 12 types of vacations used in the analysis varied principally by mode of transportation and type of accommodations and meal plan used, as summarized below:
| A. | Family traveling in personal automobile, towing their folding camping trailer, staying at campgrounds, and preparing the majority of meals in the folding camping trailer or outdoors at campsites. |
| B. | Family traveling with personal light-duty truck and truck camper, staying at campgrounds, and preparing the majority of meals in the truck camper or outdoors at campsites. |
| C. | Family traveling in personal van conversion, staying at campgrounds (with optional tent, depending on vehicle floor plan), and preparing the majority of meals outdoors at campsites. |
| D. | Family traveling in personal car or light-duty truck, towing their travel trailer, staying at campgrounds, and preparing the majority of meals in the travel trailer or outdoors at campsites. |
| E. | Family traveling in personal motorhome, staying at campgrounds, and preparing the majority of meals in the motorhome or outdoors at campsites. |
| F. | Family traveling in personal automobile, staying at motels or hotels, and eating the majority of meals in restaurants. |
| G. | Family traveling by intercity bus, renting a car at the destination, staying at motels or hotels, and eating the majority of meals in restaurants. |
| H. | Family traveling by train, renting a car at the destination, staying at motels or hotels, and eating the majority of meals in restaurants. |
| I. | Family traveling by airline, renting a car at the destination, staying at motels or hotels, and eating the majority of meals in restaurants. |
| J. | Family traveling by airline, renting a car at the destination, staying at a residence rental, and eating a majority of meals at the residence rental. This vacation type was only deemed appropriate for vacations in destinations areas which commonly support short term residence rentals. |
| K. | Family traveling by airplane and boarding a cruise ship getaway providing all meals for the duration of the trip. Cruise vacations were only deemed an appropriate fit for seven and fourteen day (back-to-back) vacation segments. |
| L. | Family traveling by airplane to a domestic all-inclusive package vacation providing all lodging and meals on site. Vacation segments of seven to fourteen nights conformed to this vacation package. |
Costs analyzed were the major cash or credit outlays that would be required from the time a vacation began to the time it ended. Capital expenditures, such as the purchase of automobiles, recreation vehicles, summer cottages, or condominium apartments, as well as timesharing and membership arrangements, were not taken into account, nor were ownership expenses (as opposed to operating costs) of these assets or usufructuary rights. Incidental expenses, such as entertainment, shopping and the like, were also not taken into account since they would normally not vary by mode of transport or accommodation facilities used during a vacation. The major vacation cost categories analyzed were: fuel; round-trip air, train, and bus transportation; restaurant meals; groceries; car rentals; campsites; and hotel and motel rooms.
For the analysis, PKF divided the U. S. into four regions corresponding to the Census regional designations (i.e., Northeast, South, North Central, and West). In each region, at least one city was designated as the point of origin. Data was collected in six different origin cities, 27 different destination cities, and 41 intermediate cities or towns (i.e., located between the origin and destination cities). The six origin cities were Boston, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, Houston, and San Francisco.
Travel time between each city-pair selected represented a vacation and was categorized according to the specific trip duration assigned to it. In the analysis, vacation durations ranged from two to 21 nights and were directly related to travel time involved in the round trip using a surface made of transport. The correlation between trip duration and distance in highway miles between each city-pair varied from two nights: 308 miles to 21 nights: 2,359 miles. The exact duration of the vacations in all 30 city-pairs selected was divided into the following vacation duration categories: weekend (2 nights), holiday weekend (3 nights), one week (7 nights), two weeks (14 nights), and three weeks (21 nights). For each vacation duration category, one city-pair represented a region of the United States.
To complete the analysis, PKF calculated the average total cost (excluding capital/incidental cost as noted above) that the family would incur during each type of 2-night, 3-night, 7-night, 14-night, 21-night vacation.
FIRM QUALIFICATIONS
PKF Consulting is an international firm of management consultants with offices in principal cities in the United States and a network of over 250 offices in 75 countries worldwide. PKF serves clients in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, Central and South America, East and West Africa, the Near and Far East, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the United States. The Firm's United States staff consists of nearly 100 professional consultants and specialists. PKF has over 80 years of experience and recognition in all phases of professional assistance and counsel to service industries and specifically to the tourism, hospitality, and real estate industries.
Prepared by: PKF Consulting, Alexandria, Virginia