At least a third of the nation’s privately-owned campgrounds use guest guides as a way to instantly connect their guests with local businesses, according to a recent survey of 1,000 campgrounds, RV parks and resorts by AGS Publications.
A survey of 10,000 businesses who advertise in park guest guides also found that 80 percent of them find it worthwhile to do so because of the high levels of business they receive from park guests who might not otherwise find their way into their doors.
This is a critical finding for AGS, which provides parks with free guest guides when the company’s advertising representatives can find enough businesses to support their guides, which is usually the case, according to the company.
The same finding has also led AGS to adopt a new marketing slogan: “Building Trusted Relationships Since 1986.”
“Our new slogan is meant to reinforce the notion that we’re not just a publisher of much-needed guest guides, but a company that connects RV parks and their patrons to the local community where relationships really matter,” said Brian Schaeffer, president of AGS. “And given the fact that 80 percent of advertisers find it worthwhile to advertise in our guest guides, we know that we are raising the visibility of campgrounds and RV parks as economic engines in their communities.”
Here’s an overview of the key findings from the recent AGS survey of 1,000 park operators, the first of its kind in the campground industry:
- More than one-third of campground operators have used a guest guide (with local businesses supporting it) for more than 10 years.
- 50 percent of parks get asked several times a day at their front desks about products or services RVers need.
- 80 percent of parks consistently support their local advertisers by referring business to them.
AGS’s survey of 10,000 guest guide advertisers made the following findings:
- 45 percent of advertisers in guest guides have been doing so continuously for six years or more.
- 40 percent of advertisers said their top reason for advertising in guest guides was to target the park’s unique customer base.