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Outdoor Recreation Industry Guide

Industry analysis, consumer trends, and participant data for the outdoor recreation industry the relevant activities

Who are my customers and how can I understand them better?

After you get a good idea about the larger industry, you’ll want to know about the consumers (or in this case, consumers and participants ) in the industry. Market research reports, data, and statistics found in the resources below are an excellent place to start.

Tools for Outdoor Participant and Consumer Data

  • For this industry, Passport is best used to understand the general Consumer Lifestyles of people in the USA
  • Just type "Consumer Lifestyles in the U.S." to find general information about consumers, such as how they spend their money and time. 
  • Use Sport Market Analytics to find statistics, demographics, and participations trends of sports
  • Use the links under "All Data for a Sport" to find information for specific outdoor sports
  • Search Mintel for consumer demand, trends and demographics
  • Relevant reports from Mintel include:
    • Outdoor Enthusiasts
    • Outdoor Vacation Activities
  • Simply search for "outdoor" to find these reports
  • Use Simmons to find national-level demographics of people who participate in outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and more. 
  • Also use to find the projected number of people who like to go camping on vacation, or engage in other outdoor activities, in the U.S. 

Check out my guide for Tips & Tricks on Using Simmons.

  • Use SImplyAnalytics to find outdoor sports participation statistics at the local level. 
  • As an example, you can use SimplyAnalytics to get the percentage of people who mountain bike by county in Ohio.  

Search Tips

The video below can help you get a quick understanding of how to use SimplyAnalytics.


If you have a business idea that you are looking to pitch, you’ll want to understand the local market and consumers in the area. This video demonstrates how to find consumer demand for products and services, consumer demographics, and competitors in a prospective business location, using SimplyAnaltics.