The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (National ARVC), with support of industry leaders, has formed a taskforce focused on exploring the creation of voluntary baseline and enhanced standards for the private campground industry.
“Today’s camping consumer has a new set of expectations when camping so it is important that our industry develop these standards to meet those expectations,” says Paul Bambei, president and CEO of National ARVC. “These standards will be voluntary, of course, but will also go a long way toward keeping our industry free of unwanted consumer scrutiny and government regulation.”
Topics the task force are considering include health and safety; security; general operations; terminology; environmental impact; customer experience; infrastructure and maintenance; recreation; and ethics. The voluntary standards are intended to complement the existing standards in NFPA 1194 and state codes that already exist.
The task force is led by former independent campground owner and National ARVC past chair Kathy Palmeri.
“National ARVC is the trade association for the almost 13,000 parks across the United States and in that role, must take the lead in setting best practices and standards,” said Palmeri. “With the dramatic changes we have seen in the industry in the past several years, now is the time to engage a diverse and growing consumer base and their expectations, as well as those of developers. This is changing the face of the industry, and we must be bold in setting a new course.”
The task force is made up of about 10 people in and around the camping industry.