RV parks are incredibly unique in the sense that there are so many different ways to operate them. Deciding on the best fit for your park requires the consideration of various factors such as profitability, community impact, operational involvement, staffing requirements, capital investment, and more.
We all know that operating an RV park involves much more than just offering a place for campers to park their RVs. As an RV park owner, it’s important to understand your options and then to decide what kind of experience you want to provide, from the types of guests you want to accommodate—whether it’s longer-term residents, vacationers, or seasonal campers—to the impact you want to have on your community and the operational demands you’re willing to take on.
In this article, we’ll explore various options that have the potential to increase profitability, enhance guest experiences, and streamline operations. Whether you’re looking to expand your park’s uses, adopt new accommodation options, or refine your business model, we’ve got some ideas to help you make the best choices for your RV park’s success.
Defining Your Ideal Customers: Who Do You Want to Serve?
Before deciding on what potential options to incorporate into your park, it’s a good idea to consider what customers you want to serve. There are all kinds of potential end users, such as:
- Weekend RVers: Stay for short weekend or holiday getaways, often with their family or extended family.
- Seasonal Residents: Lease a site for the entire summer season as a great alternative to a traditional cottage.
- Extended-Season Campers: Stay 8-10 months annually, often as part of an alternative lifestyle that involves travel to warmer climates during the winter months.
- Tent Campers: Prefer a rustic, back-to-nature camping experience, and normally come for weekend stays.
- Glampers: Seek upscale stays for 1-7 nights in yurts, safari tents, domes or other unique options.
- Full-Time RVers: Live a nomadic lifestyle, on the move frequently in a travelling RV, van or other and stay for days or weeks at a time.
- Medium-Term Stay Guests: Stay for 1-6 months for reasons such as temporary work assignments or long-term visits.
Exploring Different Options for Your RV Park
Now that we’ve listed potential customers we can serve, let’s dive into some of the options available to help you maximize your park’s potential:
1. Convert Transient Sites to Seasonal Sites
One of the most effective ways to optimize your RV park is to convert transient, nightly sites into seasonal sites. This strategy can reduce operating expenses, as long-term seasonal guests typically require fewer resources for turnover and maintenance. By offering seasonal sites, you create a stable, predictable revenue stream that can be more profitable in the long run.
Seasonal campers typically pay for the season in advance, making it easier to plan and budget. Additionally, seasonal campers appreciate the ability to return year after year, fostering a loyal customer base. Whether it’s families looking for a consistent vacation spot or retirees enjoying a quiet, extended stay, seasonal options provide a great opportunity for parks to build lasting relationships with guests while increasing profitability.
2. Extended Seasonal Stays
Offering extended seasonal stays is an excellent way to cater to those seeking an alternative living lifestyle. Many people are looking for affordable ways to live outside of traditional homes. RV parks can play a part in this solution by offering extended-season sites for 8-11 months a year. This option is especially attractive to snowbirds who enjoy going somewhere warm in the winter months or remote workers who enjoy a flexible lifestyle. By offering affordable extended-season living options, you can tap into a growing market of longer-term campers. This group often value the sense of community and the cost-effective solution that your park is helping to provide, making it a mutually beneficial arrangement. It is important to check with zoning by-laws to see how long of a season you might be able to offer.
3. Year-Round Living
Some municipalities allow a portion of RV parks to be designated for full-time living. This opens up new possibilities for year-round living and can significantly boost the park’s revenue potential. By creating sites that cater specifically to full-time residents, you can attract individuals and families who are looking for a more affordable or mobile living solution. Full-time residents also bring a steady, recurring income stream through monthly fees that investors and lenders prefer if your goal is to eventually sell or refinance your park.
To attract this demographic, consider enhancing your park’s amenities to meet the needs of long-term residents, such as adding laundry facilities, mail services, and upgraded utilities. Creating a welcoming atmosphere for year-round living can be a game-changer for your park’s success.
4. Glamping and Other Short-Term Vacation Experiences
Glamping is one of the most exciting trends in the RV park industry. By adding park-owned glamping units, such as furnished cottages, cabins, yurts, geodesic domes, or safari tents, you can cater to guests who are looking for a more luxurious and unique outdoor experience. Glamping attracts a demographic that may not typically consider traditional RV camping but is willing to pay a premium for a more upscale, comfortable stay.
Glamping requires careful planning and upfront capital investment. These units typically need to be fully furnished and stocked with amenities like linens, towels, and kitchen essentials, which add to both the initial setup costs and ongoing operational needs. Staff may be required to clean and maintain these units between stays, adding to labor expenses. By offering a higher-end experience, you must also ensure these accommodations are well-maintained and thoughtfully designed to meet guest expectations. Despite these additional requirements, the premium rates that glamping units command can offset the costs and provide a strong return on investment, making them a compelling option for park owners looking to diversify and elevate their offerings.
5. Park Model Trailer & Add-On Sales
Park model trailer sales present an excellent revenue opportunity for RV park owners. These semi-permanent units combine the comfort of a small home with the flexibility of RV living, making them perfect for seasonal residents or individuals seeking long-term stays.
By offering park model trailers for sale, you not only enhance the appeal of your park but also generate immediate income. In some cases, RV park owners even require customers to purchase a park model trailer in order to occupy specific sites, ensuring that, in addition to extra profits, the park establishes a certain aesthetic. Selling these units can become a lucrative business stream, especially if you offer financing options or work with manufacturers to provide customized models. The result is both a boost in revenue and a more attractive, permanent feature for your park.
You can take this concept further by offering additional upgrades such as sunrooms or add-on rooms, building custom decks, or selling storage units, bunkies, outdoor bars or barbeque stations, and other permissible structures. These enhancements allow residents to personalize their sites and create a more comfortable, home-like environment. By diversifying your offerings, you not only increase revenue potential but also elevate the overall appeal and functionality of your park, making it a destination that stands out to prospective residents.
6. Expansion Sites
If your park has unused or excess land, consider expanding your park’s offerings by adding new RV sites or developing additional amenities. Expansion can take many forms, from creating more seasonal or transient sites to building specialized areas for glamping or park model trailer sales. This strategy helps you maximize the potential of your property and increases capacity to serve more guests.
Expansion also provides an opportunity to introduce new features like playgrounds, walking trails, or communal gathering spaces, which improve the overall guest experience and attract new customers. Expanding your park is an investment in its future and can increase both revenue and guest satisfaction.
New infrastructure solutions and technologies have made expansion more accessible and cost-effective than ever. By leveraging these modern solutions, park owners can achieve a faster return on investment (or even make a previously unviable expansion viable) while minimizing disruption to existing operations.
7. Additional Transient Sites
In high-demand travel locations, transient sites can be a profitable addition. These short-term, nightly rental sites are ideal for road-trippers, travelers passing through, or vacationers looking for a quick getaway. In locations near popular attractions, national parks, or scenic routes, transient sites can command higher rates due to their convenience and proximity to these destinations.
To make the most of transient sites, focus on offering amenities that enhance the guest experience, such as Wi-Fi, laundry services, or easy access to local tours and attractions. This not only makes your park more appealing but also allows you to charge premium rates for nightly stays, increasing your overall revenue.
8. Medium Term Stays
Medium-term stays cater to guests in the area for an extended period, typically related to work, family obligations, or travel. These guests seek affordable yet comfortable accommodations, such as RVs, park models, cabins, or cottages. By tailoring offerings to meet the needs of medium-term guests, you can fill a gap between short-term vacationers and long-term seasonal residents. It is often possible to acquire units at attractive prices to really drive your ROI.
9. Technology & Guest Experience Improvements
Technology plays a crucial role in optimizing RV park operations and enhancing the guest experience. Implementing guest experience software, online booking systems, and digital marketing tools can streamline reservations, improve communication, and automate check-ins, reducing operational burdens and freeing up management to focus on guest satisfaction. Dynamic pricing, powered by real-time data on demand, seasonality, and market trends, allows for automatic rate adjustments, maximizing revenue during peak periods while remaining competitive during slower times. By integrating dynamic pricing tools and using data analytics to track key performance indicators like occupancy rates and guest satisfaction, RV park operators can make informed decisions that drive growth while providing a seamless, efficient experience for both guests and management.
Advanced technology integrations further elevate operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. Utility management solutions, for example, address the challenges of rising energy costs and higher demand from electric vehicles, golf carts, and energy-intensive rigs. Automating utility management through integrated platforms can save staff time and simplify operations. Short- and long-stay utility metering captures previously unbilled consumption, ensuring accurate billing and transparent communication with guests. Cloud-based gate systems and security camera solutions add an extra layer of safety and convenience, offering remote monitoring and streamlined access control for both staff and guests.
Additional integrations include tools like wireless utility meters, online payment portals, and Wi-Fi-enabled smart locks, which enhance convenience for guests and simplify back-end operations for staff. For guest experience, integrations such as self-checkouts, activity booking, interactive site maps, Airbnb listing synchronization, and electronic agreements cater to modern travelers’ expectations of efficiency and customization. Other attractive options include online customer loyalty programs and guest portals where campers can see their charges and make online payments to their account. By leveraging these advanced technologies, RV parks can reduce costs, improve guest experiences, and remain competitive in an increasingly tech-savvy industry.
10. Miscellaneous Sales
Adding miscellaneous sales is a great way to increase revenue while enhancing the overall guest experience at your RV park. One effective strategy is to introduce an on-site store. With modern self-checkout technology, you can even operate a store with minimal additional labour costs, offering guests convenience (they can even bill purchases to their account like at a hotel) without significantly increasing your expenses. The use of cameras and other security measures can reduce the risk of theft. Stock your store with essentials like snacks, beverages, toiletries, camping supplies, and RV accessories to meet guest needs and generate extra income.
For more automated solutions, consider installing vending machines for high-demand items such as drinks, snacks, or even camping gear. These machines require little maintenance and provide a steady revenue stream, especially in high-traffic areas.
Merchandise sales are another opportunity to add value and foster loyalty. Offer branded items like T-shirts, hats, or mugs, allowing guests to take home a memento of their stay. Not only does this generate revenue, but it also serves as a marketing tool when guests use or wear the items elsewhere.
Equipment rentals can further diversify your revenue streams. Depending on your park’s amenities and location, you might offer bicycles, kayaks, paddleboards, or fishing gear for rent. These options enhance the guest experience while providing an additional income source with relatively low overhead.
By integrating these miscellaneous sales options into your park’s offerings, you create multiple ways to serve your guests while boosting profitability.
11. Bringing in a Partner or Consultant
Successfully implementing the strategies outlined in this article may require additional expertise. Bringing in a consultant or strategic partner can help you execute on these ideas more effectively. Consultants can provide valuable insights into market trends, guest preferences, and industry best practices. They can also assist with business planning, construction, marketing, sales, capital and operational expertise.
A consultant or partner can also help you identify potential partnerships with local businesses or event organizers, increasing your park’s visibility and traffic. Whether you’re looking to refine your business model, expand your park, or optimize your operations, working with a consultant can increase the chances that your strategies are executed with precision, leading to long-term success.
Other Considerations
Now that we’ve gone through all the options, it’s important to take into account a variety of other factors before deciding which ones might be a good fit for you. Here are some additional considerations:
Park’s Location & Unique Features: Take into account your park’s natural features like rivers, lakes and forests. Consider your park’s proximity to tourist attractions or metro areas. These things need to be weighed in order to consider if one of the options above will be a good fit.
Site Servicing, Power & Infrastructure: Each of the options above require certain services (water, sewer, electricity, Wi-Fi, etc) and the right amperage (30-amp, 50-amp, etc) so you need to make sure you have what’s required to offer a certain option.
Operational Involvement: Assess how hands-on you want to be with daily operations or what staff you can find and are willing to manage (or have someone manage). Some models are quite heavy operationally, while others can be more passive.
Staffing Requirements: Determine the number of staff needed for operations, customer service, cleaning, and maintenance. More complex parks with things such as glamping or extended stays may require additional personnel.
Capital Investment: Consider the cost of upgrades, expansion, and new accommodation types. Each decision requires an initial investment, and you’ll want to understand the potential return on that investment.
Skillset and Expertise: The options above may require skills in hospitality, marketing, sales, finance, construction, property management and more. Identify which skills you have and which areas may require external support or training.
Energy and Effort: Think about the energy and effort required to amend or add to your park’s business model and operations. Some models are more labour-intensive than others.
Community Impact: Consider how your park’s presence affects the local community and ensure it aligns with your goals and values.
Local Regulations & Sustainability: Be aware of zoning laws, environmental laws and permitting. Consider implementing eco-friendly practices like recycling and energy efficiency to attract environmentally-conscious guests.
Conclusion
In conclusion, operating an RV park offers a wealth of opportunities. We’ve touched on some ideas, and with some careful planning, analysis and consideration, there are even more ways to maximize the potential of your RV park.
The key to success lies in understanding your park’s unique potential and tailoring your approach to meet your own needs and the needs of your ideal campers. Whether you’re focusing on seasonal residents, full-time living, glamping experiences, or expanding your park’s offerings, there are numerous strategies to increase profitability, enhance guest satisfaction, and streamline operations. By considering factors such as community impact, staffing requirements, capital investment, and your desired level of involvement, you can create the optimal model that aligns with your goals for your park.
The RV park industry is evolving, and with the right strategies, you can position your park for long-term success and growth.