b'Industry Updatefrom page 14 working through the COVID crisis, the companyis still seeing strong interest from campers. customer research, 45% of Year-to-date our numbers are strong and arethe guests visiting us this far exceeding our expectations in revenue, hesummerwerevisitinga explained.OccupancycontinuestoremainJellystone Park location for strong and our parks had very busy first and sec-their first time ever. ond quarters. Our outlook for the fall continues toHe also noted that the look strong and should be up year-over-year.outlookforthefalllooks The Jenkins Organization continues to ex-very strong based on ad- pand its profiles under its Great Escapes monikervanced reservations. Based Trent Hershenson and is also having a very strong year.on the available data (as of Themajorityofourmid-July), reservations for September, October, Great Escapes RV ResortsNovember and December are up 76% com- are booked seven days apared to the same park advance reservations week with campers in RVs,from mid-July in 2020. tents and cabins, accordingAt RVC Outdoors, Lloyd Lauland, president toCherolynChiang,theof the company, noted that companys director of mar-its parks are seeing more re- keting. We have seen an in- Fall has become a very popular time to camp due to Halloween weekends and other activities.peat business, along with fluxoffirst-timecampers Credit: Dogwood Acresmore new campers looking and first-time visitors to our Cherolyn Chiangto explore the lifestyle. parks. Interest in tent camping has surged so years. What they look for is a minimum of three continuing to see new campers come into ourAtourPigeonForge much that they are renting our RV sites for their years of sustained cash flow increase and the parks and we are excited looking forward to fallLanding location, we have tents. Overall, our parks have been quite full since smart campground owner is taking advantage of and expect the busy weekends to continue wellseen guests checking in the the camping season began.the law of supply and demand and raising their into the fall.same day they purchased In our warmer regions, demand started in rates and raising their profits right along with it. In Virginia, Emily Peck,Llyod Lauland their rigs, he noted. With May 2020 and has not slowed since, she added. Our annual Trends and Insightsreport shows co-executive director of thethe record number of RV sales in the past 18 Fall camping demand remains strong but is lim- that site numbers are growing right along with the Virginia Campground Asso-months, the percentage of new guests is increas- ited to weekends. number of amenities, continued Bambei. ciation (VCA),toldWCMing daily. Across our entire portfolio, occupancy Campspot Software, a reservations and park State campground associations have also re- that park owners are seeingis up 35.8% in the first six months of the year. management software provider, noted to WCM ported that their member parks are seeing an in- the highest reservation num-Bookings for the fall are much stronger than this that its research shows a 37% increase in book- crease in the number of campers visiting their bers they have seen in years.time last year, however, we are still witnessing ings from May until now year over year, with a parksincluding an influx of new campers. For some, it is the mostshorterbookingwindows 47% increase in advanced bookings from now The camping season in theyhaveeverhad,sheduetotheuncertaintyof until the end of the Summer (now until September Ohio has been great, noted highlighted. There are cer- Emily PeckCOVID-19. 1). Kristy Smith, the executive tainly many new campers in addition to people,Mike Harrison, the vice There is a 62% increase in advanced book- director of the Ohio Camp- old and new, taking an increased number of trips.president of operations for ings for fall (Sept. 1Oct. 31). groundOwnersAssocia- Many parks are completely booked on the week-Contemporary Resorts and What Im seeing is venture capital and private tion.Campgroundsare ends, which I am sure is the case in most statesResidences (CRR),told equity investment is being attracted to our indus- very busy; bookings are up right now. Many of our campgrounds are antic-WCMthat while its numbers try, said Bambei. Those guys look for one thing, or at least on par from last ipating busy October/Halloween weekends.are skewed a bit from first predictability of cash flow or profit, and we have year (which was also one The story is much the same in Maine.Mike Harrison opening in 2019 and then that. They like it when it sustains over many Kristy Smith their busiest years). We are Industry Updatecontinued on page 2816 September 2021 Woodalls Campground Magazine'