KOA Touts 400,000-Member Value Kard Program

The number of parks in the Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) system isn’t the only thing growing at North America’s oldest and largest system of open-to-the-public family campgrounds.

The 475-campground KOA system recently announced that membership in its two-year-old Value Kard Rewards camper loyalty program had surpassed 400,000 active accounts.

“We’ve seen strong growth in our Value Kard Rewards Program, especially in the past year,” said Chris Mink, marketing program manager for the Value Kard Rewards Program. “Campers are very saavy consumers. No program will grow at the rate we’ve experienced unless campers recognize real value and savings.”

In 2009, members of the KOA Value Kard Program saved nearly $1 million by redeeming Value Kard Rewards “points” at KOA campgrounds.

“KOA Value Kard Rewards is the only program in camping that offers guests both an immediate discount on their camping fees (10% off), and rewards points that accumulate for savings on their future camping stays,” Mink said. “The purpose of this program is to get more campers camping within the KOA system. We want campers to spend these points on KOA camping every chance they get.”

“We know our program works, because we’ve seen a marked increase in loyalty camping among the members of the Value Kard Rewards Program,” he said.

In 2009, the average number of nights stayed at KOA campgrounds by Value Kard Rewards members increased 5%.

“We’ve also seen a 9% increase in the average number of camping trips taken by KOA Value Kard Rewards members,” Mink said. “That is exactly what our program is designed to accomplish.”

Of the 400,000 members, nearly 16,000 have reached the elite VIP level by accumulating 20,000 points in a 12-month period. The VIP level allows those campers to accumulate Value Kard Rewards points at a rate 25% faster than regular Value Kard Rewards members. “These are our very best KOA campers, and we wanted to reward them accordingly,” Mink said.

Each of KOA’s campground owners and franchisees use the Value Kard Rewards database to actively market additional benefits and special Hot Deals to their campers throughout the year.

“We’ve been able to deepen our relationship with our guests,” Mink said. “That’s the true value of a program like ours. It certainly bolsters our claim that KOA offers a camping experience – including our rewards program – that you just can’t get anywhere else. That’s why we use the slogan “It’s not camping. It’s Kamping.’”

“Of course, none of this works unless you have great KOA owners at wonderful facilities across North America to provide that fantastic camping experience that they are looking for,” he said. “You have to have real value in place to grow at this pace.”

Mink said that KOA is aggressively looking for new Value Kard Rewards Program partners to offer even more benefits for members of KOA Value Kard Rewards.

16,000 Families Headed for KOA Parks May 14-15

More than 16,000 camping families have already made reservations to participate in Kampgrounds of America Inc.’s (KOA) 7th Annual Come Kamp & Care With Us Weekend event May 14-15, according to a news release.

“This event has become the official launch of the summer camping season,” said KOA President Pat Hittmeier. “It’s wonderful that we’ve been able to grow camper participation every year. That’s great for both our campground owners, who increased business on a traditionally slow May weekend, as well as KOA Care Camps for children with cancer.”

Campers who stay as paying guests at participating KOA campgrounds on Friday, May 14, will receive a free night of camping on Saturday, May 15. During the weekend, KOA campground owners hold a variety of fundraising events for campers, all geared to raise funds for KOA Care Camps for children with cancer. KOA Care Camps is a network of 43 specialized summer camps throughout North America that provide a true summer camp experience for children with cancer and their siblings.

In the past two years alone, nearly $500,000 has been raised from all sources during Come Kamp & Care With Us Weekend to benefit KOA Care Camps, the official charity of the KOA Owners Association.

This year, nearly 400 KOA campgrounds across North America are participating in the May event, up from 377 campgrounds in 2009. A complete list of participating KOAs in available at www.KOA.com.

“We are just getting underway with our marketing for this event, and we already have nearly 30 percent more reservations than we had at this time last year,” said Mike Gast, vice president of communications for KOA and the coordinator of the Come Kamp & Care With Us Weekend event. “We’ve got guests that now make this special event the official start of their camping season every year. It’s become a tradition for thousands of camping families, and we expect it to continue to grow.”

KOA Convention in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 7-10

Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) will be taking its annual KOA International Convention to Savannah, Ga., Nov. 7-10

The host hotel for the big event will be the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa. The annual KOA Trade Expo, where vendors work with hundreds of KOA owners and managers, will be Nov. 9-10 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

Vendors interested in securing their spot at the xxpo can contact Isabel Frederick at ifrederick@koa.net or call (406) 248-7444.

Independent campground owners looking for more information about adding their campground to the KOA family and taking part in the educational convention can contact Chris Fairlee at cfairlee@koa.net, or visit www.ownakoa.com.

KOA-Sponsored U.S. Bobsled Team Wins Gold medal

Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) picked a winner when it decided to become a major sponsor of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Team at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The U.S.’s four-man bobsled team No. 1 took the gold medal in exciting fashion Saturday during the next-to-last day of Olympic competition.

The four-man team, which also is the current world champion and World Cup Champion team, claimed the first U.S. gold medal in four-man bobsled since 1948.

“KOA is a great company and proved to be an enthusiastic partner,” said Darrin Steele, CEO of the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF). “We depend on sponsorships like this one with KOA to have success like we had at this Olympics.”

Kampgrounds of America CEO Jim Rogers congratulated the USA team and said the relationship between the team and KOA has been rewarding for both sides.

“The Winter Olympics brought the world’s elite athletes together to demonstrate the very best in outdoor recreation. Both KOA and the USBSF share a passion for dedication, hard work, competitive excellence and national pride and we are proud to be a member of the USBSF family.”

For more on the team’s Olympic results, go to www.bobsled.teamusa.org.

Industry Veteran Hittmeier Named KOA President

Pat Hittmeier, a 29-year veteran of Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA), has been promoted to the position of president of the 48-year-old family camping company, according to a news release.

Hittmeier has served as chief operating officer of KOA for the past eight months. The promotion was announced Feb. 26 by KOA CEO Jim Rogers.

“The depth of knowledge about our industry that Pat brought to his new job eight months ago allowed him to lead KOA at a very critical time,” said Rogers. “Pat’s leadership helped turn what could have been a very difficult year for KOA into a very positive one.”

Rogers said while the new title won’t necessarily lead to new responsibilities for Hittmeier, it will put him on “equal footing” with his peers in the camping, RVing and outdoors sectors.

“Pat Hittmeier has done nearly everything there is to do at KOA, so he brings a depth of knowledge to this position that just can’t be matched,” Rogers said. “Early in his career, he worked in our Company Operated Properties Division, learning the nuts and bolts of campground management. He later was in the field building new KOAs like the beautiful park we have in Polson, Mont. He’s also been at the helm of our Franchisee Services Department, a very complex operation that is at the very heart of the value KOA brings to its franchisee partners. He intimately understands the needs of our staff, our campground owners and our guests.”

Before being named chief operating officer, Hittmeier was vice president of sales and development, where he spearheaded the successful effort to add 50 campgrounds to KOA in just two years.

Hittmeier, a native of Litchfield, Ill., is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He moved to Texas after graduation and worked with youth outdoor education programs in Houston and Waco. In 1977 he moved to Montana and became a forester for the state of Montana. In 1979, he came to Billings to be sales coordinator for the Mossmain Industrial Park before joining KOA in June 1981.

Kampgrounds of America, founded in Billings in 1962 by Billings entrepreneur Dave Drum, currently has more than 475 locations in North America. It is the world’s premiere family camping organization, hosting nearly 6 million camping families each year.

475 Campgrounds Included in 2010 KOA Directory

Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA), the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds, just got a little larger.

For the first time since 2000, KOA will have 475 campgrounds included in its 2010 KOA Directory (shown at left), which will be available at all KOA locations in the United States and Canada beginning March 1, according to a news release.

“We’ve seen a huge amount of interest on the part of independent campground owners in converting their parks to the KOA system in the past two years,” said Mike Gast, vice president of Communications for KOA, and the coordinator of the KOA Directory. “This year’s KOA Directory will have 30 new KOAs listed throughout North America. We’re growing, and we’ve got a lot of beautiful new locations to show to our campers.”

The KOA Directory is free to campers, and is distributed at every KOA campground location. It’s also available by ordering online at www.koa.com/orderadirectory.

The 2010 KOA Directory includes detailed listings of each campground, including the park’s special features, activities and amenities as well as locator maps and specific directions. For the first time, the 2010 Directory also includes a detachable brochure detailing KOA’s lodging opportunities.

“We added more than 250 deluxe lodges with full baths and kitchens to our KOA system in 2009, and we’ll add another 400 in 2010,” Gast said. “We’ve also got more than 4,000 of our simple, affordable Kamping Kabins available, so we truly have KOA kamping any way you want it.”

For more information on Kampgrounds of America and what’s new for 2010, go to www.KOA.com.

Utah May Turn to KOA to Help Run its State Parks

Utah lawmakers looking to balance the state parks’ budget heard proposals ranging from a big-game hunt on Antelope Island to letting Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) run some parks, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The park system is already looking at a cut of at least $615,000 from its $31.7 million budget, and more could be coming. The director of the parks system, Mary Tullius, said she worries what additional cuts could mean.

“We have been doing more with less. Now we’re doing less with less,” she said.

To help make ends meet, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, proposed expanding the big-game hunt on Antelope Island. He said that granting two tags for deer and two for bighorn sheep could bring in as much as $500,000 per year from eager hunters.

There is already some bison hunting allowed on the island, according to the division, but the state has not permitted other hunts.

But Noel’s proposal was not nearly as sweeping as the changes pitched by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who recommended contracting with private businesses to run the state parks.

“We got a lot of wonderful parks. We got a lot of parks that lose money, too,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any losers in this.”

Buttars hoped to realize $35 million in savings from the effort, although just $11.6 million of the state parks budget comes directly from taxpayers — the rest comes from fees and a portion of boating and off-highway vehicle registrations.

Tullius said privatizing the state parks may require returning control of some lakes over to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

And 19 parks include property purchased with federal funds, so the state might have to repay the federal government.

Buttars said that explanation strengthened his resolve.

“We’re a slave to the federal government, and I’m sick of it,” Buttars said. “Let’s figure out a way to start getting out from under their thumb. If this state’s ever going to stand up on its own, we need to quit taking federal funds.”

Woodall’s Campground Management contacted KOA officials in Bilings, Mont., regarding such a proposal. KOA responded with the following statement: “The Kampgrounds of America corporate offices in Billings has not been contacted by anyone with state government in Utah regarding such a proposal,” said Mike Gast, vice president of communications for KOA Inc.

KOA Sponsoring U.S. Teams at Winter Olympics

Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) will join forces with some of the U.S.’s best winter athletes as an official sponsor of the 2010 U.S. Olympic bobsled and skeleton teams.

“We are very excited about our newest sponsorship with Kampgrounds of America,” said Darrin Steele, CEO of the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF). “KOA is a great company and proving to be an enthusiastic partner. The timing of this couldn’t be better as we are in our final push toward the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. We depend on sponsorships like this one with KOA, and it puts us one step closer to reaching our fundraising goal for the season.”

For Kampgrounds of America, the connection to the Olympic movement is a natural, according to a news release.

“KOA is all about pride, franchisee teamwork, excellence and outdoor fun,” said KOA CEO Jim Rogers. “The Winter Olympics bring the world’s elite athletes together to demonstrate the very best in outdoor recreation. Both KOA and the USBSF share a passion for dedication, hard work, competitive excellence and national pride and we are proud to be a member of the USBSF family.”

Oscar Tang, chairman of KOA, is serving as an honorary USA bobsled and skeleton team captain for the Winter Olympics and will attend the Winter Games.

Other team sponsors include Allianz Life Insurance Co., Under Armour Athletic Gear and Luminox Watches.

The team’s final three World Cup events are under way now through Jan. 10 in Konigsee, Germany; Jan. 11-17 at St. Moritz, Switzerland; and Jan. 18-24 at Igls, Austria. Winter Olympic bobsled competition begins Feb. 20 in Vancouver, and the skeleton competition will get under way Feb. 18.

Based in Lake Placid, N.Y., the USBSF is a non-profit corporation and national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. It is recognized by the Federation Internationale ed de Bobsleigh and Tobogganing as well as the United States Olympic Committee. The USBSF is responsible for the selection of the U.S. team, and enables our U.S. athletes to achieve sustained competitive excellence in Olympic competition and promotes the sports of bobsled and skeleton nationally.

KOA is the world’s largest system of family campgrounds, with 475 locations in the United States and Canada. KOA is dedicated to providing the best possible camping experience to the nearly six million campers it hosts each year. KOA was founded in 1962 on the banks of the Yellowstone River near Billings, Mont.

RPTIA Adds KOA’s ‘Lodge Guy’ to Its Board

Mike Atkinson, Kampground of America Inc.’s (KOA) facilities development manager, has been elected to the Recreation Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA) board of directors.

Newnan, Ga.-based RPTIA is a nonprofit trade association that represents and provides information and assistance to all segments of the park model and trailer industry, government agencies, media and product owners or potential owners.

Atkinson, known to KOA franchisees as ‘The Lodge Guy,’ is considered to be one of the leading experts on park models in the camping industry, according to a news release, and has been facilities development manager for Billings, Mont.-based KOA for three years.

Since 2006, Atkinson has collaboratively designed, engineered, manufactured, marketed and sold a new line of park models specifically for the outdoor hospitality environment, branded the KOA Lodge. Prior to working with KOA, he was a franchise owner himself, as well as a business owner in the construction and engineering fields.

“I am looking forward to sharing a campground perspective that incorporates an understanding of marketing, sales and end-user demands,” said Atkinson. “I’m honored to help RPTIA successfully navigate future challenges and leverage exciting opportunities.”

KOA’s Rogers, Airstream’s Wheeler on Today’s Video

Watch today’s video featuring Airstream Inc. CEO Bob Wheeler and Kampgrounds of America Inc. CEO Jim Rogers.

Rogers and Wheeler were interviewed today (Dec. 29) on the Fox Business Network. The two were interviewed concerning the rebound of the outdoors industry from the 2009 recession, as well as the prospects for camping and RVing in 2010.

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