Recession-Proof? Summer Camps Charging $9,000 a Camper Sold Out

May 18, 2009— -- Some of Gennifer Birnbach's fondest memories come from her childhood in summer camp. So this summer, despite being out of work for more than a year, she and her husband are paying $8,000 to send their two children off to camp.

"This economy is awful," the Westchester, N.Y., resident said. "My husband and I are both out of work right now. Our kids know that things are tight. They see it, they feel it, but I don't want to have them feel it as much as we are feeling it."

As the recession forces families to make difficult choices, parents across the country seem generally reluctant to cut spending on their kids and many summer camps, which are a rite of passage for some, appear to be holding their own, especially at the higher end.

Birnbach spent eight years at Summer Trails Day Camp in Westchester, starting in 1974 when she was 4. After two summers at sleep-away camp, she returned to work there as a counselor. Her daughter Remi Hoffmann -- who turns 6 next month -- started at Summer Trails last summer. Her son Owen, who is about to turn 4, will start this summer.

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"Ever since I was too old to be a camper and needed a real job, I've spent every summer sad that I'm not at camp," Birnbach said. "In my 20s and early 30s, I just couldn't wait to get married, have kids and relive camp all over again."

Birnbach was laid off from her jobs in publicity, ad sales and marketing in December 2007. She has tried to do freelance work ever since. Her husband, Philippe Hoffmann, is a freelance graphic designer, but work has slowed with the economy.

With a little help from their families, however, they have scraped together enough money to pay for camp.

"It did such wonders for her," Birnbach said of Remi. "She was painfully shy. I wanted her to have the experience of having fun and learning what it's like to branch out."

At the Timber Lake Camp, an eight-week residential facility in New York's Catskill Mountains, all 460 spots for this summer are filled. The cost: $9,850 for each camper.

Jay Jacobs, who has spent 30 years in the camping business and owns five camps, says he has seen growth in first-time campers.