How much interest is there

How much interest is there in outdoor sports and wilderness experiences?

Weak demand for outdoor recreation experiences? Alicia Ault reports on the 22nd Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in the OpinionJournal, here: "A Wealth of 'Gear'--for What?".

"But despite the party-on patina, the 862 exhibitors and the 17,863 attendees, the show has become an increasingly desperate trip. The $5.2 billion specialty outdoors market is showing its age.

"According to the Outdoor Industry Association's 2002 annual recreation survey, the number of newcomers to cycling, canoeing, climbing, hiking and snowshoeing was flat, continuing a trend that started in 1999. Backpacking declined. And the outdoors folks are trying to figure out how to crack the youth market, which would rather jump off a cliff than hump a pack through the woods."

I learned about this from EconoPundit (who just returned from a car camping vacation): "Coleman car-campers are gloating... "