b'cated guests who are disruptive during quiet with about a third of them being new staffhours. Dont ask guests to leave in the mid- members each year.dle of the night, she explained. If they have Wetypicallyhavenewtrainingeachbeen drinking, you assume liability for them year, based on what the needs are, shedriving. The noise from them packing up said,addingthatlastyearsfocuswascould also disturb other campers. cleanliness and guest service. This year isWhile there are many important strate- courtesy and respect.gies park operators can learn to de-escalate Galvin said many of her new campers areproblemsinvolvingunrulyguests,some hotel guests that have a sense of entitle-park operators are also stepping up their ef- ment. They are anxious to get out and beforts to ensure guests are familiar with park campers, but theyre not campers, sherules before they arrive. said. They are newbies who need to learnOne case in point is Normandy Farms what camping is all about.FamilyCampground inFoxboro,Mass., As a result, she said, staff needs cus-which requires guests to read and agree to tomer service training to help these formerspecific park rules before they are allowed hotelguestsastheylearnhowtobeinto the park. campers and learn about proper campingWe have a list of terms and conditions etiquette.we give our guests before they even arrive Galvin said her staff is usually able toat the park. They have to handle situations involving unruly guests. Ifread and sign it before we have an issue with a guest, we send outwegivethemagate a two-member team to talk with them. If wecode,saidparkco- cant de-escalate the situation, we will as-ownerMarciaGalvin, sess it to see if we need to call the police,adding,Weaimfor she explained. Ninety-five percent of theclear expectations, quiet time we can de-escalate the situation on ourhours and campground own. We do have rangers that have experi- Properly training employees and offering refresher courses ensuresetiquette. ence and know how far a guest can go be- that everyone knows what to do when dealing with an unruly camper.Marcia Galvin Ofcourse,Galvin fore management takes it to the next level.concedesthatsome We want our employees to feel safe at workguests sign off on park rules and regulations just as much as we want our campers towithout reading them. But there are conse- feel safe as well.quences if they violate park rules. Dan Wright, assistant manager of TheIf a guest violates the parks code of con- Springs at Borrego RV Resort in Borregoduct, the guests name is flagged in the Springs, Calif., said he has learned throughparks computer system along with details experience that it also helps to have workof the issue and notes on whether the guest campers or camp hosts with law enforce-complied with park staff requests to follow ment or high school teaching experiencethe rules, whether it involves quiet hours or because they have been trained to deal withanother issue. rule-breakers and immature behavior.If a noise issue or other issue happens a Jones said there are many avenues forsecond time, the guest is given a code of park operators to obtain training for theirconduct letter, which states park rules and staff. Certainly, state and national camp-expectations. ground industry associations, the School ofIf the problem happens a third time, the RV Park and Campground Managementguest is given a letter of disinvite, a copy and your franchisor if you have one. Talkof which is also provided to the local police with your chamber of commerce and yourdepartment. The guest is also told to leave local police department. They may come outat that time and they will not be welcomed and do some training as well, she said.back. The guests name is also noted in the Jones added that it is critical for park op-parks computer system so that staff knows erators to have good relationships with localnot to allow them back. police departments.WCMGalvin said her park typically has moreproblems with tent campers than RVers.There are a lot of great tent campers, shesaid,buttheoddsaregreaterfortentcampers being disruptive or otherwise vio-lating park rules.Still, Galvin said Normandy Farms be-lieves its important to continue to accom-modate tent campers to provide a place forpeople to have an introduction to camping.We want to be able to offer a place forfamilies to start camping, she said. Wewant the families to be able to come andgrow with us.Galvin and her management team provideabout six weeks of training each year forpark staff. Her 400-site park has about 100employees during the peak summer season,While tent campers may be more disruptive attimes, tents are a gateway to camping for many. WOODALLSCM.com June 2021 27'