b'GUEST VIEWRecent News Spurs Questions as Industry Enters 2022No doubt, the industry will never be the same due to some of these recent de-velopments. The coming years will be exciting for both consumers and opera-tors, especially if the outdoor hospitality industry finds a home for the largeDavid brands, the independents and the boutique RV parks so that all can prosper! GorinIts been a long time since I was last1,000 attendees at its Outdoor Hospi- Campground Management. His gen- smallerRVparkownerspauseto inspired to write an article about thetality Expo & Conference. I believe at- erous donation will provide scholar- think about their future. campground and RV park business. IntendanceatanARVCmeetinghasshipstostudentsattendingtheWe only have to look at our indus-my 35 years associated with the in- never been close to this figure and itschool.try brothers and sisters in the RV deal-dustry, the last few weeks have reallyis a meaningful benchmark againstGeorge is the first park owner whoership world to see how consolidation moved the industry success meter upwhichfutureconferencescanbereally recognized the importance ofin an industry can change the face of a few notches in my opinion. measured.education and networking with otherthe industry and impact significantly Three recent occurrences had meSecond,myoldbuddyGeorgecampground owners, fellow operatorsthose who are left standing alone in grabbing my laptop and writing downOLeary set a new benchmark in gen- and industry suppliers and vendors asthe face of such consolidation. a few thoughts.erosity, putting his money where hiskeys to his success. These opportuni- The hotel industry is a good exam-First,inmid-November,theNa- mouth is with a $1 million donationties coupled with a lot of hard workple. As major brand names bought up tional Association of RV Parks andto ARVC to help encourage and growand efforts by George, his family andexistingmomandpophotelsand Campgrounds (ARVC) reported overtheNationalSchoolofRVPark&his staff surely helped him grow hisbranded themor built new hotels in RV parksRincon Country East RVprime locationsthe independent Resort and Rincon Country West RVhotel owners, whose properties were Resortin Tucson, Ariz., to such anotattractivetothebrands,were success that a $1 million gift to the in- squeezed into second-and third-tier dustry was not only possible but alocations where they hang on today great way to say thank you to the en- fighting for a small slice of a big pie. tire industry. Georges generosity cre- Some questions to think about: ates a new level of awareness of the Is it time for ARVC to offer a brand importance of continuing educationto its members who are often dealing and building industry ties.withbrandslikeKampgroundsof Third, the recent announcement ofAmerica Inc. (KOA), Jellystone Park, the sale of Leisure Systems Inc., theSunOutdoors,Margaritaville,En-franchisor of Yogi Bears Jellystonecore, Thousand Trails and other own-ParksCamp-Resorts,tomega-RVers and developers that are buying or parkandmega-mobilehomeparkdevelopingandbrandingparksto owner Sun Communities, the parentserve the new and expanding base of companyofSunOutdoors,raisedRVers and campers? eyebrowsthroughouttheindustry. Can ARVC become the home base Over the years, many large publiclyfor both large national brands and in-held hotel companies kicked the RVdependent park owners that are out-park industry tires but never followedsidetheexpandingbrandsmoving through. Sun is a multi-billion-dollarinto the industry? company,theequalofmanyhotel Can ARVCs annual OHCE serve chains, and its continued expansionboth the big players and the inde-into the RV park world should givependents? CantheOHCEgrowto2,000, 3,000 or 4,000 attendees in the future?Can George OLearys gift to ARVC be the launching pad for a new ARVC? CanARVCexpanditsGovern-ment Relations program, independ-ent of the RV Industry Association, to deal with state and local issues of im-portancetomembersacrossthe country while it continues to work with recreation interests nationally? No doubt, the industry will never be the same due to some of these re-cent developments. The coming years will be exciting for both consumers and operators, especially if the outdoor hospitality industry finds a home for the large brands,theindependentsandthe boutiqueRVparkssothatallcan prosper!DavidGorinwasthepresident and CEO of the National Association ofRVParksandCampgrounds (ARVC) from 1987 to 2001 and was the executive director of the Virginia Campground Association from 2002-2011. He founded David Gorin Asso-ciates LLC in 2002 and teamed up withJayneCohentoestablish Gorin+Cohen Consulting Group in 2015. He has also successfully devel-oped, owned and invested in parks over the last 20 years.WCM32 February 2022Woodalls Campground Magazine'