Being one of the old-timers around the industry, I have had a difficult time understanding why campground operators/owners have been so slow to accept and use common hospitality industry technology. Now, commonly used technology like computers, reservation systems, websites, point-of-sale programs, credit card machines, fax, email, online reservations, and Wi-Fi were all 5 to 10 years slower to be used by most campgrounds. I still talk with people who don’t have a reservation system.
Currently, the elephant in the room is Dynamic Pricing (really just old yield management under a new name) and AI.
A recent article in Woodall’s Campground Magazine (WCM) focused on the need to use Dynamic pricing as a tool to grow revenue. We are seeing all the investment groups that seem to be buying up campgrounds in record numbers using some form, and most reservation systems now provide a basic straight-line yield management program, although even they have been slow to come to the party, and some of the major systems still don’t even offer that program.
In the late 90’s, I did a presentation on yield management at a national conference for a group of about 100 attendees. I thought I was going to be tarred and feathered. The concept of raising the site rate as occupancy increases was not comprehensible, even though hotels, airlines and car rental companies had been doing it for over 20 years at that time.
I have spent the last several months speaking at conferences, talking about the need to use yield management or, more importantly, a true Dynamic Pricing model that focuses on finding the optimal price, only to be met with the same objections that came up in the 90’s. “My customers talk to each other, my customers expect me to set a price and not change it, or I don’t have time of the information to constantly monitor my price”.
As WCM noted in its article, today’s customers are accustomed to these types of pricing models. It’s simple supply and demand, and if explained as “we reward our customers for making their reservations early,” it takes away the need to try to explain your pricing strategy.
I do caution you on using a “set it and forget it” program on a reservation system, however. Someone needs to be watching to make sure you have not exceeded the “optimal price” your customers are willing to pay. It does not have to be the manager or owner, but someone who can keep an eye on occupancy percentages, weather, events in your area and your booking window. That does take some effort, but a 20% to 30% increase in revenue with no associated expense is worth having someone keep an eye on the numbers.
As noted, I have been wondering for decades why we have been slow to use technology, and now AI has jumped in with both feet and is making it too simple to ignore.
After reading “The Infinite Game,” a book Rafael Correa, president and CFO of Blue Water, mentioned in another WCM article, I began to finally get an idea of why we as an industry have been so slow when it comes to technology. The concept of “Purpose before Profit” is focused on in the book and it directly applies to many campground operators/owners. I have been involved in this industry since 1982, and I know and have known a lot of single and multiple park operators and owners. I can’t recall any of them ever talking to me about getting rich or being wealthy monetarily. This is not a business you get into to create wealth as the main goal.
Certainly, many have been very successful, but none started with the goal of being wealthy, no matter the cost to the customer. This business, although it’s relatively simple, is not EASY, as many investment companies are finding out. It’s 24/7, and although our guests will often say how they want to retire and own a campground, those that actually do are in for a rude awakening for the first couple of years.
However, I think most of us in the industry can honestly say they would not want to do anything else. I think the idea of purpose before profit has slowed us from jumping on board with technology. The concern of how it might or will impact our guests makes folks cautious about changing anything that will take away from the guest experience. What we do is not so much about making money as it is about creating an environment where families, couples or singles can come and enjoy the outdoors with their families, friends and loved ones.
What other job allows you to create memories for people that will stay with them for a lifetime?
For the last 30 years, I have managed multiple parks, which put me on the road visiting campgrounds three weeks of each month throughout most of the year. I always wear a shirt that has a campground logo, and without fail someone on a plane or in an airport will ask me about the logo. When I say I’m in the campground business, more often than not they will say they have camped and that it was the best moments they can remember. You can see in their eyes that they are remembering those times. It constantly reinforces to me how important what we do is.
With that said, it doesn’t mean that we can’t use technology to increase revenue. It’s not about making more money but about how that money is being put to use. Increasing revenue means we can do more or offer more to our customers and assures us we will be able to afford to continue to provide all the hundreds of little, and sometimes large, things that have to be done to allow our guests to enjoy themselves and take home a memory they will never forget.
The pace at which technology is improving cannot be ignored. Just a few years ago, Wi-Fi was looked at by many operators as a detriment to the camping experience. “Our guests are coming here to get away from all that.” It has gone from replacing pools as the No. 1 amenity to now being considered a utility like water, electricity and sewer. The customers are constantly changing, and to serve them best, we have to adapt to their wants and needs.
Years ago, I was arguing with my marketing director about putting in Cable TV and/or Wi-Fi. I was in the school of “that’s not what camping is about.” He said to me, “First, you give people what they want, and then you give them what they need”.
Today’s customers are accustomed to pricing changes based on demand. If there is a shortage of eggs, the price increases. As the number of available seats on a plane decreases, the price increases. People expect and accept it.
AI assistants are popping up everywhere and some in the campground industry are starting to use them. I personally do everything I can to avoid responding to one. I have asked some of the companies that use them what people think and I was told there are people who like it and some who hate it. Mostly the older generations dislike it. Younger generations seem to like the fact that the phone is always answered and much of the information they need can be answered without talking to someone “offshore,” which is a frequent option that has become so popular with customer service industries.
As noted at the start, I’m an old-timer, so I’m very cautious about what we should do with the many tools AI is offering. But like all the other technologies that came before we were slow to embrace, there are tools that we can and should use to provide a better level of service to our guests and meet their expectations moving forward.
We will always have those customers that will say they can’t afford our prices or that we are more interested in making money than our customers. However, all you need to do is drive your park on a Saturday night, see the campfires and the families enjoying themselves and you will know they are wrong.
Our PURPOSE has not changed regardless of the changes in technology.
Robert Bouse is currently one of the managing partners of Campground Intelligence Network, formerly Vice President of Operations for Travel Resorts of America for 16 years. Since joining the campground industry in 1983, he has been responsible for various-sized campgrounds ranging from 35 sites to 1,283 sites. Robert was responsible for the acquisition of 14 properties for Travel Resorts of America, five for KOA and five for Diversified Properties. Robert has been a speaker on campground-related topics at many conventions, including OHI and IAAPA. He has served on many boards, including currently serving on the Board of Directors for OHI and formerly on the Florida ARVC Board of Directors and the Founding Board of Regents for the National School of RV Park and Campground Management at Oglebay. He was the first to earn his OHE from OHI and was a continuous instructor at the National School for decades.
