New Report Reveals Youth Summer Camp Industry Has a Direct Economic Impact on the Northeast of $3.2 Billion

An Economic Impact Report conducted by Consulting Economist Charles Lawton, Ph.D. on behalf of the American Camp Association, Northeast Region reveals that the youth camping industry provides economic benefits to the Northeast and has a direct financial benefit of $3.2 billion annually on nine states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. There are over 6,000 licensed camp programs in the Northeast that employ almost 175,000 people seasonally and 10,000 full-time.Vermont’s 110 day and residential summer camps have a direct impact of $60 million on the Vermont economy.

The direct economic impact of the youth summer camp industry comes from three main sources:

1. Employment

Vermont camps employ 3,000 seasonal workers and 100 full-time workers who receive more than $17 million in wages. The 16-to-24 age group holds most of the seasonal jobs, helping a demographic with a state unemployment rate of 7.2% (2016 statistic).Besides the economic impact, youth camps also foster the non-academic life skills that U.S employers seek when hiring for jobs. These are the skills that aren’t learned in school and can’t be measured on standardized tests including creativity, communication, leadership, resilience and teamwork.

2. Spending

Besides payroll, Vermont camps spend more than $51 million on goods and services in the Northeast including food, supplies, fuel, marketing, banking, maintenance and repair in small, local communities who rely heavily on this income. Northeast camps from Maine to Pennsylvania spend $2.5 billion on goods and services.

3. Camps as Tourist Destinations

Each summer, millions of young people go to day and overnight camp in the Northeast. As a result, there is a great deal of intra-regional, out-of-region and out-of-country tourism. Family trips surrounding drop-off day, pick-up day, visiting day, and visits from prospective campers are common. The communities surrounding camps see increased spending on lodging, meals, transportation, shopping and recreation by families visiting camps and campers.
Vermont camps attract 25,000 out-of-state visitors to Vermont who spend $8 million annually. According to the American Camp Association, Northeast Region’s Economic Impact Study, when the indirect economic impact, which includes tourism, is added in, the total economic contribution to the Northeast rises to $8 billion.

Combining payroll, operational and capital spending, the total annual direct economic impact of the youth camping industry in Vermont is $60 million.

Payroll Data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics www.bls.gov/cew/data.htm
ACA New England (www.acanewengland.org) & ACA New York & New Jersey (www.acanynj.org) are501(c)3 organizations that ensure the quality of summer camps and serve as a primary source of summer camp information and resources. Both organizations are affiliated with the American Camp Associationheadquartered in Martinsville, Indiana.