More than 240 Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort franchise owners and staff members have gathered in North Charleston, S.C., this week for the group’s annual Symposium.
“This is the biggest Symposium ever,” according to Rob Schutter, chief operating officer of Milford, Ohio-based Leisure Systems, Inc. (LSI), which franchises 75 Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada.
In his address to franchise owners Monday at the Charleston Area Convention Center, Schutter commended Jellystone Park owners for their efforts to continually raise the bar in the family campground business.
“When we are analyzed by business magazines,” he said, “we always come out on top. We don’t rest on our laurels. We’re an entrepreneur-driven organization.”
The Jellystone Park franchise network has been ranked the No. 1 campground franchise in Entrepreneur magazine’s listings for the past three years in a row — 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Jellystone Park network ranked No. 202 in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2019 Franchise 500 rankings for its outstanding growth, financial stability and brand power.
The brand was also recently named one of the Top 50 franchises in the United States in terms of franchisee satisfaction by Franchise Business Review, which also listed Jellystone Park among 2019’s “most innovative franchises” and one of the best franchises for women. Franchise Gator also listed Jellystone Park among the nation’s top 100 franchises in 2019.
While financial statistics are not yet available for 2019, LSI anticipates setting a new all-time revenue record this year. This would be LSI’s 11th straight year of record sales. Existing locations were up 12% year-over-year during the first six months of this year.
During his keynote address, the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds President and CEO Paul Bambei told Symposium attendees that the campground industry continues to enjoy strong growth. Ninety percent of campground owners are reporting increased profits, Bambei said, citing a recent ARVC survey of both ARVC and non-ARVC member campgrounds.
The same survey also noted that 78% of parks had experienced increasing occupancies, while 51% had increased their rates.
Bambei also said he knows of 20 new campgrounds being built in seven states and that many campgrounds are adding sites.
“I think this is a great sign for our industry,” he said.
Bambei also shared other statistics, including RV shipments. He noted that there were 483,000 towable and motorized RVs shipped in 2018, the second highest annual shipment figure in the history of the RV business. Shipments for 2019 are expected to drop to 401,200, and to 387,400 in 2020, according to the RV Industry Association’s (RVIA) latest Road Signs Forecast, he said. But even these lower shipment figures are the fourth and sixth highest shipment totals in the history of the RV business, Bambei said, adding that Millennials are accounting for increasing numbers of RV sales.
“It’s a great time to be an owner of a campground with Millennials knocking at your door,” he said.
Monday’s (Nov. 11) activities concluded with LSI’s annual awards banquet. The Symposium’s trade show was scheduled for today and Wednesday.
