The following was written by Saskia Boogman of Kampgrounds of America, and published on RVIA’s website.
Over the past several years, the RV industry has seen a growing interest in camping, a trend that has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Saskia Boogman, director of public relations for Kampgrounds of America (KOA), last year, 10.1 million households camped for the first time – a rate nearly five times that in 2019. Similarly, 2021 has been another impressive year for camping, and she expects this trend to continue.
This has meant campgrounds across the board – regardless of location and amenities – have become much busier. However, says Boogman, it’s definitely true that locations near popular national destinations are more likely to book early and to be full.
“The fact is, the more popular a place or location, the more crowded it will be more often,” she says. “But it’s also worth noting that campgrounds that are in these locations are generally well-equipped to handle capacity crowds, so RVers should still expect a relaxing stay even if they have neighbors nearby.”
KOA, which has 525 locations in North America, has been very aware of these private and public campground availability concerns and has been working on ways to make it easier for their franchise owners to expand their campgrounds. They are currently offering free design services, royalty rebates and their Campground of the Future grant program which offers funds to campground owners completing forward-thinking campground updates.
“We are also seeing an influx of new-build campgrounds that will also offer relief,” says Boogman. “We work very closely with owners looking to build campgrounds from the ground up based on our nearly 60 years of industry experience.”
The popularity of camping clearly offers challenges, but also solutions, not only for campground operators, but for RVers, as well.
To read Boogman’s entire piece, click here.