I came across a very interesting new organization (thanks twitter) and some of the research they are involved with. The Outdoor Foundation is a non-profit group that tries to increase outdoor activities, responsibly. They produce an annual report on demographics of outdoor recreation that shows some very interesting trends.
Their report looks at 114 outdoor activities and features information on over 60,000 participants, six year and older. The report also gives stratification based on gender, race and diversity.
Some interesting points I appreciated were:
- Over 50% of Americans participated in outdoor activities
- The 6-17 year old age group had an 11% decline in activity
- Participation was highest among Caucasians and lowest among African Americans
Overall, the data gathered and prepared by The Outdoor Foundation has many applications, especially for outdoor marketing. I did find the statistics interesting, as an outdoor athlete, myself.
I am totally biased but do enjoy outdoor sports activities and like to share that enjoyment with others. This article illustrates who is outdoors, enjoying the same things I love. It also shows who is not. This begs the question…why are they not and what can be done to get them outdoors?