Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts has signed its first Utah franchise agreement, according to officials at Leisure Systems Inc. (LSI), which franchises more than 75 Jellystone Parks across North America.
Scott Nielson, founder of Nielson RV, one of the nation’s top-performing RV dealerships, is bringing the family camping and entertainment brand to Hurricane in southeast Utah.
Nielson recently sold the dealership’s three locations to Camping World and is now focused on building an expansive Jellystone Park.
First announced as Glampers Inn RV Resort, the 52-acre development will be known as Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort at Hurricane Sand Hollow. It will feature the full array of Jellystone Park attractions and activities. Families also will be able to enjoy the adjacent Hanalei Bay Water Park, as well as boat, ATV and dune buggy rentals. Construction is scheduled to begin later this spring, with the first luxury cabins and RV sites expected to be available this fall.
“Partnering with Jellystone Park was an easy decision because no other brand is focused on the rapidly growing family camping and glamping market,” Nielson said. “Jellystone Park provides new franchisees with all of the marketing, activities, branding and merchandise needed to get up and running quickly, and everybody loves Yogi Bear, especially kids.”
The new park is located off I-15, two hours north of Las Vegas and four hours south of Salt Lake City. It is adjacent to Sand Hollow State Park and Reservoir. Zion National Park is 30 minutes away. Other state parks, golf courses, and hiking and biking trails also are nearby.
“We are thrilled to have Scott and his team developing this new park,” said Jim Westover, vice president of product development and sales for LSI. “Scott has a great track record of building extremely successful businesses that are very customer-focused.”
Westover noted that research recently conducted for Jellystone Park found that families in the Western U.S. are more likely to go camping or glamping than those in other regions. “There is great demand among families for new and better camping options in the West, and we are fortunate to have territories still available to investors looking to seize this opportunity,” he noted.
The Hurricane location will be the fourth new Jellystone Park to open in 2021. The brand posted its 14th straight year of same-park sales increases in 2020. Even though many locations did not fully open until mid-summer, annual sales grew nearly 10% last year. Advance 2021 bookings are up more than 300% over 2020.
