Kampgrounds of America recently awarded a record number of quality KOA President and KOA Founder Awards during its annual convention on Nov. 14 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
KOA owners and managers at 275 KOA locations received the prestigious KOA Founder’s Award, and 422 KOA President’s Awards were also distributed. The awards are presented each year based on a campground’s KOA Quality Assurance scores, as well as direct feedback from hundreds of thousands of KOA campers who stayed at KOA campgrounds during 2018.
“It’s heartening to see the number of awards grow each year,” said Pat Hittmeier, KOA chairman and CEO. “It’s a reflection of the fantastic effort our campground owners have made in not only improving their facilities, but ratcheting up the level of guest service at all of their parks.”
Chuck Celania, chairman of the board of Independence Bank in Havre, Mont., received KOA’s Darrell Booth Lifetime Achievement Award during the convention.
The New Bern KOA Holiday in North Carolina has weathered a lot of adversity in 2018, according to KOA.
The campground, owned by Joel Tomaselli and managed by Pat Holtzclaw, had consistently been at the top of the list of quality KOA parks for the past few years, and Tomaselli had invested heavily in the campground to enhance his guest’s camping experience.
That work led Kampgrounds of America to name the New Bern KOA Holiday as its Campground of the Year for 2019.
“When we were selecting our Campground of the Year in August, the New Bern KOA Holiday seemed like the natural choice,” said KOA President Toby O’Rourke.
Then, on Sept. 14, Hurricane Florence visited the North Carolina coast.
The campground received severe storm damage, as well as weeks of flooding. But, true to form, Tomaselli and his staff have rolled up their sleeves and gotten right to work rebuilding the park.
“After the hurricane hit, we really didn’t see a need to change our minds about our Campground of the Year selection,” said O’Rourke. “It’s actually now a wonderful story of growth and investment for the past several years, coupled with the devastation of a hurricane and the rebirth of the park that is going on right now.”
In 2018, the New Bern KOA Holiday received a rare perfect score on KOA’s annual Quality Assurance Review.
Receiving KOA’s Rising Star award was Don and Cheryl Arnold who purchased their Ohio campground in 2012.
Cheryl and Don Arnold, center, owners of the Thompson/Grand River Valley KOA Holiday in Ohio, were the winners of KOA’s 2019 Rising Star Award. The award was presented Wednesday, Nov. 14, during KOA’s annual International Convention in Fort Worth, Texas. The Arnolds are pictured with KOA CEO Pat Hittmeier, left, and KOA Vice President of Franchise Services Darin Uselman, left.
The KOA Rising Star Award is presented annually to a campground that has been part of the 515-location KOA system for less than five years but has gotten off to a fast start in growth, investment, guest service scores and revenue.
“We realized very early that we needed the support of KOA to help where we were not experts,” said Cheryl Arnold. “Joining KOA allowed us to do what we felt we did best and utilize KOA’s experience for those things that we did not. We’d do it all over again, without question.”
Since becoming a KOA, the Arnolds have added deluxe cabins, teepees, a new bathhouse, Jumping Pillow, RV patio sites, a new store, an upgraded clubhouse and added a lakeside chapel.
In 2018, they also added more cabins as well as pet-friendly RV sites for guests.
KOA currently has 510 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.