Petition Drive Could Stall Arizona KOA Project

A citizens group filed petitions Tuesday morning (Aug. 31) to overturn a town council decision that allows an RV park in Chino Valley, Ariz.

Candy Blakeslee of the Protect Our Rural Lifestyle Referendum political action committee filed the petitions with Town Clerk Jami Lewis, who said the review process can take 38 days. Lewis said the referendum would be unlikely to appear on a townwide ballot until next March, when council seats are up for election, The Daily Courier, Prescott, Ariz., reported.

Blakeslee said she submitted 446 signatures, well above the 188 minimum to qualify the referendum for an upcoming ballot. At 15 signatures per page, Lewis estimated the committee gathered even more signatures – about 464.

The committee is seeking to overturn council approval of an ordinance July 22 to rezone 17 acres to allow Kampgrounds of America (KOA) to open an RV park with 32 cabins and 119 campsites. The ordinance rezones property on the south side of East Road 3-1/2 North, about 400 feet east of Highway 89, from commercial light/agricultural residential with a minimum of 5 acres to commercial heavy.

“We really feel that commercial-heavy zoning next to residential is not right for Chino Valley,” Blakeslee said before she submitted the petitions to Lewis. Her group began the petition drive Aug. 5.

Committee treasurer Mitzi Bonn also expressed concern about the effect of the project on sewer service for nearby homeowners, who are on septic systems.

“Part of the objection is we have not been told what the sewer plan is,” Bonn said, adding, “We are not against growth.”

Project backer Charlie Arnold, who is representing property owner Jack Tuls Jr. of JT Properties in Las Vegas, Nev., acknowledged Bonn, Blakeslee and others “have the right to pursue this direction. I’m not fully aware of what their position is.”

Arnold, who also heads the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce board, defended the project, saying it would be located within a commercial zone next to the highway.

“The project will create sales tax and employment opportunities as well as boost the region’s tourism,” he said.

Arnold said he has worked “diligently” with town staff to create a pressurized sewer line that would not require connection to nearby homes.

“We are not pursuing a manufactured home park at this time,” Arnold said. “We have tabled indefinitely that proposal.”

Arnold continued, “As far as I am concerned, we have gone above and beyond satisfying the needs of the neighbors, who are an entire parcel away from this project.”

Mayor Jim Bunker said he is aware the committee filed petitions but reserved judgment.

“I’ll just see what they have and we will go from there,” Bunker said.

Councilwoman Linda Hatch, who cast the sole “no” vote on the rezone, joined the committee members when they gathered at Town Hall.

“I voted ‘no’ against the density,” she said. “I think it is outstanding that people in the community care enough to put this to a vote for the people.”

However, Hatch stopped short of saying she would vote with the wishes of the committee if they succeed in qualifying the referendum for the ballot.

Blakeslee said the committee hired Lisa Hauser from the law firm of Grady Gammage & Burnham in Phoenix.

“We are passionate,” Bonn said.

Bonn, Randy Corbett, Amanda Fancher and teenager Zack LeRoy accompanied Blakeslee when she presented the petitions to Lewis and Deputy Town Clerk Cecilia Watts, with the Town Manager’s Office.

“If there is a challenge to this (petition drive), I want to be notified,” Blakeslee told Lewis.

Camping Taken to a New Level

Click here to watch a video courtesy of KCCO-TV, Grand Junction, Colo., of the following story.

Campgrounds are going hi–tech and high class, giving campers all the amenities they can find in a hotel stay.

When you think of camping you probably imagine family and friends barbecuing and enjoying the great outdoors, KKCO-TV, Grand Junction, Colo., reported.

“They just went for a hike. We’ve been cooking. They’ve been making mud pies and we’ll probably play Apples to Apples later,” says David Simmons, who was camping at the Colorado National Monument when interviewed by the TV station.

But it’s nothing fancy. “There’s flushing toilets, that’s about it,” says Simmons.

Camping is traditionally thought of as roughing it. “Getting out into the wilderness and getting some fresh air,” says Simmons.

But some campers are changing that perception. “If you take a family, you need a bathroom. And it’s nice to have a shower,” says Steven Smiley who was camping at Kampgrounds of America (KOA) campground in Grand Junction.

And perks like Wi-Fi are a huge attraction for campers like Smiley. “I will say we’ve never had Wi-Fi before. That was really nice,” he says.

Campsites like the KOA in Grand Junction may not be in the most picturesque of locations, but campers say their amenities like the pool, game room and washer and dryers make up for it.

“This is nicer,” says Smiley.

Curtis Pauli is the owner of KOA campground in Grand Junction. He says more and more people aren’t pitching tents. Instead, they’re rolling up in RVs. He’s even converted some tent-only spaces into RV spots to keep up with the demand.

“Upper–end RVs are far more prevalent then they were years ago,” says Pauli.

“I think this camping is much better. We have a 25 foot RV ourselves. It’s very nice and comfortable,” says Bruce Rahn, as he was staying at the KOA campground.

Don’t have an RV and don’t want to pitch a tent? How about an air-conditioned cabin. “KOA is getting heavier into lodging. The cabins are very popular,” says Pauli.

But for some campers like the Simmons family, no amenity will ever be worth giving up the scenery of the Colorado National Monument.

“I’d like to make this a yearly thing. This is a beautiful place,” says Simmons.

With those amenities comes a higher price too. To pitch a tent at the KOA campground, it will cost $27 a night. An RV $35 and a cabin $50-90. At the Colorado National Monument, tents and RVs cost $10 a night.

Arizona RV Park Plan on Hold While Talks Continue

Jack Tuls Jr.’s proposal to build a 119-space and 32-cabin KOA Kampgrounds of America Inc. campground, 139-lot gated manufactured and mobile home park, and a 14-acre commercial complex near Prescott, Ariz., will not be on the June 24 meeting, according to Prescott’s Chino Valley Review.

The proposed 58-acre High Plains Development lies between Highway 89 and Road 1 East on the southwest corner of Highway 89 and Road 3 1/2 North alignment.

This is the second time the town clerk has had to pull the proposal off the council’s agenda.

Pat Clingman, development services director, said they had to pull it off the June 10 council agenda because of a problem with the legal notice the town published on the hearing.

Charlie Arnold, president of Southwest Development consultants, who is working as an outside consultant on the development, said he asked to pull it off the June 24 agenda.

“We want to continue ongoing talks with the town and affected property owners before coming to the council,” he said.

He said they plan to bring the proposal back in July.

“We have an open door policy. Our doors will continue to be open for discussions with our (the project’s) neighbors,” he added.

Ab Jackson, Chino Valley Area Chamber of Commerce CEO, said, “The chamber board by a unanimous vote endorsed the High Plains Development. Chino Valley desperately needs quality commercial developments like this.”

Candy Blakeslee, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Chino Valley who oppose the development, said she believes Arnold’s pulling of the development off the agenda is a positive move.

“We are very pleased that the developer is taking the time to hear the town’s and residents’ concerns,” she said.

Early RVers Included High Profile Celebrities

People planning on traveling this summer in an RV, historically-speaking, will be in very good company, according to MSNBC.

In 1931, Mae West’s Paramount Studios contract included a chauffeur-driven “house car” for the star to relax in while filming movies. In the early 1940s,  aviation pioneers Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, needed someplace quiet where they could write, so Henry Ford let them use a 1935 house trailer he owned that was equipped with electricity, a stove, an icebox, a bathroom and other “modern” amenities.  And in the ’60s and ’70s, TV reporter Charles Kuralt famously crisscrossed the country in a motorhome while filming his popular “On the Road” features for CBS News.

Today, West’s 1931 Chevrolet is just one of the unusual, iconic or prototypical vehicles on display at the Recreational Vehicle/Manufactured Home Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart, Ind. The 1935 Stage Coach Trailer Henry Ford loaned to the Lindberghs is parked at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Mich., as is Kuralt’s 1975 Motorcoach.

And if you think it might be a good idea to take a drive to see one or both of these collections, now would be an especially appropriate time. Starting Monday (June 7) the RV industry is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Drivers began making camping adaptations to cars not long after automobiles were invented. But according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), 1910 was when mass-produced vehicles designed specifically for camping first hit the market.

Historian Al Hesselbart says while no production campers or trailers from that first year still exist, the museum does display the towable 1913 Earl Travel Trailer, which is the oldest non-tent travel trailer in existence.

Tour the rest of the museum’s collection, and you’ll see rare gems that include the homemade motorhome based on a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado, a variety of first production units and pristine versions of popular models such as the 1954 15-foot Shasta travel trailer described as a being typical of the “canned-ham” style trailers of the 1950s.

“The earliest towable trailers were basically platforms with tents on top,” says Hesselbart, “and for years the bathrooms, even in the fancy units, were really just well-concealed chamber pots. Now the most appreciated amenities aren’t microwaves, but surely bathrooms with flush toilets and showers, and thermostatic-controlled heat.”

But there’s no need to stop there. Many high-end RVs can be equipped with full-size appliances, multiple large-screen TVs, satellite dishes, up to five space-enhancing slide-outs and “floor plans with two bathrooms; one with a full walk-in shower and two vanity sinks, and another half-bathroom for your guests,” says Ryan Lee, a spokesperson for the manufacturer Monaco RV LLC, Coburg, Ore. 

The price tag for the higher-end units reach $500,000 and above, although you certainly don’t need a $500,000, multi-bathroom motor coach to enjoy a RV vacation. But if you’re going to hit the road, whether the RV is owned or rented, there are some basic etiquette rules the experts would like you remember.

Harry Basch, author of “RV Vacations for Dummies” and “Frommer’s Exploring America by RV,” says when you’re driving, it’s important that you not hog the road and that you know the measurements of your vehicle. To avoid getting stuck under bridges, shearing off roof-mounted air-conditioning units and having mishaps on bridges, he urges drivers to make sure to “know exactly how high, how wide and how long your RV is. And how much it weighs.”

Sue Bray, former executive director of the Good Sam Club, the world’s largest RV group, says the most important part of the organization’s membership pledge “is to pull over to the side of the road, when it’s safe, if more than three vehicles are lined up behind you.”

In any RV campground, says Mike Gast of KOA, “it mostly comes down to common sense: honor the evening quiet times, which usually begin at 10 p.m., and don’t drive over the speed-limit, which is often 5 mph.” Gast says it’s a good policy to leave your camp site cleaner than when you found it and to always respect another camper’s space. “There’s nothing more annoying than relaxing at your camp site and having people cut through what is essentially your living room for the night.”

Basch adds that it is poor etiquette to rev your RV’s engine too early in the morning or to run your electrical generator too late at night. And then, he says, there’s that little porch light installed over most RV doors. “It’s nice to see where you’re going during the evening. But some people leave their porch light on all night and it can shine into someone else’s window. Before you turn-in, make sure to turn off your entry light.” 

And whatever you do, make sure you learn how to tell the difference between your RV’s gray water holding tank, which gathers water that drains from the shower and the sinks, and the black water holding tank, which collects discharge from the toilet. “A lot of people remember the exploding sewage pipe scene in the movie “RV”, starring Robin Williams,” says KOA’s Gast. “That type of explosions doesn’t really happen. But make sure you know how to empty those tanks, and in what order. If you’re unsure, please don’t be afraid to ask.”

Kentucky Campground Recovering from Flood

May is supposed to be a profitable month for the Bowling Green (Ky.) Kampground of America (KOA), but  record flooding last week left it with an estimated bill of $20,000 in damages, according to TV station WBKO.

“It washed all this out,” said Paul Von-Webb, owner of the Bowling Green KOA . “That’s all wash-out from the flooding that came through here.”

With 25 years in the campground business, last week’s floods were the worst Paul Von-Webb had ever seen.

“This is supposed to be my nature trail,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a road, but right now it’s the creek.”

Von-Webb is noting his losses today and he’s spent the past few getting all of his ducks in a row.

As for his fish, well, he’s not really certain where his fish are.

“Once it got up over the road five or six feet, I guess they felt like they were free to go,” he said. “So, they didn’t hang around.”

Aside from losing around a $1,000-worth of his pond, Von-Webb suffered some damage to boats and cabins on his Three Springs Road campground.

With some of the KOA under six feet of water in the deepest parts, 22 campers were left completely stranded.

“When we were completely water locked, we went out to get some medicine for one of the campers and brought in supplies so everybody had what they needed,” he said.

But Von-Webb is now bearing the brunt of the flooding financially.

Forced to refund guests, sometimes up to $500 a day for several days, he’s now hoping more profitable times lie ahead for the rest of the camping season.

“Fortunately, we’ve got three weekends left in this month and they’re all booked very well, so we should be okay for the month — at least breaking even,” he said.

Von-Webb says he’s now looking into types of assistance the campground might qualify for.

Family Opens ‘Dream’ Campground in Indiana

Ryan Crismore can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not an oncoming train. It’s an oncoming 1964 Malibu station wagon.

The ’64 Malibu, after all, is where all this campground business began for Crismore and his wife of 35 years, Ann Marie. And it’s not like what happens from Friday through next Sunday will be the end of it.

It will, instead, be the beginning, according to the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette.

The Crismores will throw an official grand opening that weekend for their 80-site Bluffton/Fort Wayne South Kampgrounds of America (KOA) campground, a wooded 30-acre spread on the western edge of Bluffton that includes full hookups, a kitchen/pavilion, an in-ground pool and playground, restrooms, showers, a general store and laundry. It’s the culmination of a dream that first took form after Ryan retired from the Bluffton Fire Department in 2001 after 26 years, but whose inspiration goes back 30-some years beyond that.

To a ’64 Malibu station wagon. And a homemade tent-top camper. And family vacations around open cookfires that stick with, and inspire, Crismore to this day.

“I have five brothers and sisters, and every summer piled into a ’64 Malibu station wagon with our hand-built camper, and away we went,” he says. “We were the ‘Griswolds’ before the ‘Griswolds’ were in vogue.”

That legacy only got stronger in 1975, when Ryan married Ann Marie, who grew up in a large camping family herself. One of their first purchases, Ryan remembers, was a tent. When their girls got older, they upgraded to a travel trailer. And the seeds of their future enterprise blossomed.

“It’s been my desire for a very, very long time to provide leisure time through camping,” Crismore says.

It wasn’t until 2007, however, that the desire became concrete reality.

The impetus was the sale of a large mobile home facility the Crismores had been managing for 30 years. Rather than seek out a new owner, they opted to bet their money, and their future, on a campground.

The key was to link up with KOA — “We decided to franchise with KOA very early in the decision-making process,” Crismore says) —  and secure financing, which First Merchants of Decatur provided.

The Crismores, who’ve done much of the infrastructure construction themselves, broke ground on the project in September 2007, and it’s been almost three years of hard work and challenges since.

There was the time when they hit solid limestone trying to lay the sewage lines, and had to jackhammer it out to get the lines in place.

There was the sopping year of 2008 — “Absolutely a horrendous year,” Crismore says –  when equipment kept getting stuck and breaking. And there were the five camping cabins the Crismores had to build to satisfy KOA’s requirements, and which added an extra $70,000 to the project.

Then came May 2009, and the payoff. That’s when the Crismores began opening the still-uncompleted facility to visitors, and the visitors came. By the end of the season they’d welcomed just short of 1,500 campers, almost 500 more than projected.

“When you get good news like that, it makes all the bad days melt away,” Crismore says.

Even better days may lie ahead. The Crismores have been getting phone calls from prospective campers since the middle of February, and they’ve gotten their share of snowbirds heading back north and even international visitors in rented RVs.

“Very gratifying,” Crismore says of the latter. “I’m surprised that the people passing through stop at places such as ours to see our country.”

Demand for Park Models, Cabins & Yurts Grows

Private campgrounds and RV parks and resorts are continuing their move into the accommodations business with park models, yurts and site-built cabins, despite continued difficulties obtaining financing in many cases.

The reasons are clear: Rental accommodations broaden a park’s business base while generating at least two to five times as much income as a traditional RV site, depending on the park’s location.

At Yosemite Pines RV Resort & Family Lodging in Groveland, Calif., for instance, 26 park models and eight yurts generate nearly as much income as its 181 RV sites combined, according to park co-owner John Croce. That’s roughly five times the income of a typical RV site.

In the 465-park Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) network of franchised and corporate-operated parks, in turn, recreational park trailers account for two percent of campsites, but generate 6% of income, or triple the typical RV site revenue, according to Mike Atkinson, KOA’s director of lodging.

And while the recession has hammered the hotel industry, private park operators have found that their rental accommodations have remained resilient. KOA alone saw a 14% increase in “same store” park model rental income from 2008 to 2009, Atkinson said.

This kind of market success with campground rental accommodations is spawning intensifying competition among park model manufacturers as they vie with one other to provide private parks with increasingly attractive, competitively priced units.

And that competition more than likely heated up last fall when Jackson Center, Ohio-based Thor Industries Inc. announced a new strategic partnership with the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC) to provide rental-lodging at special discounted pricing for ARVC’s nearly 4,000 affiliated parks.

“The immediate response since we made the announcement last fall has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Shane Ott, Thor’s director of campground relations. “We’ve literally had dozens of serious inquiries regarding both park model and travel trailer rental options.”

The ARVC-Thor partnership involves “ruggedized” park models and travel trailers tailored for rental use by Thor’s Breckenridge, Airstream Inc. and Keystone RV Co. subsidiaries.

Possibly adding to the impact of that new partnership is the possibility of Thor finalizing terms of finance package with “a major financial institution” that could sweeten the deal by helping ARVC campground owners obtain financing for Thor’s campground lodging products, Ott said a press time.

Cavco Pursues Eastern Market

With Fleetwood’s Virginia Plant

Meanwhile, one of the nation’s largest park model manufacturers, Phoenix, Ariz.-based Cavco Industries, has ratcheted up its competitive edge by developing its first ever East Coast manufacturing presence with the acquisition of an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Rocky Mount, Va., which it acquired through its purchase of Fleetwood Homes. The plant helps Cavco significantly reduce its park model shipping costs for its Eastern U.S. customers, since the company’s other park model manufacturing plants are in Texas and Arizona.

Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s specialty division, said the Rocky Mount plant has been a boon for KOA’s East Coast franchisees, who can now order custom designed Kamping Lodges with lower shipping costs than they could in the past from Cavco – a preferred KOA provider.

KOA, in fact, is increasingly embracing park model accommodations. While KOA parks have traditionally provided their guests with site built cabins and cottages, Atkinson said the company’s focus today is on fully furnished park models. “As we grow our accommodations business, park models are the product of choice over site-built cabins – not because of quality, but because of ease of installation,” he said, adding that KOA expects to have 1,000 park models in place across North America this year, up from 640 in 2009.

Unlike site-built cabins, park models manufactured by members of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA) can usually be set up in private parks without building permits because they have an RPTIA inspection seal.

Nor are building permits typically required for travel trailers manufactured and inspected by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA). Permits are usually required, however, for yurts and site-built or kit cabins.

“The need for building permits (for yurts) will vary depending on the local site, intended use and conditions. But most of the time a permit will likely be needed,” said Pete Dolan, a customer service representative for Pacific Yurts Inc. in Cottage Grove, Ore., adding that the company offers its customers documentation regarding the fire resistance of the yurt materials as well as a structural analysis of snow and wind loads to assist with the permitting process.

“Ultimately,” he said, “(whether or not a permit is needed) will be the local building official’s decision, since the yurt is a unique structure and can fit into a number of different categories within existing building codes.”

Dolan added that Pacific Yurts is seeing growing demand for its products as rental accommodations. “Although it’s only February, we expect our sales figures to be stronger than last year,” Dolan said. “The demand for yurt rental accommodations has been steadily building for the past decade and a half. We are seeing this trend continuing to build steam as more people experience the unique comfort and durability that our product offers.”

Dolan also said the private parks are seeking larger yurts with more amenities, including bathrooms, kitchens and television. “These deluxe accommodations offer the comfort of a deluxe cabin, but still offer a closer connection to the natural environment that tents provide,” he said.

There’s Nothing Like a Rustic

Cabin — Park Model or Not

“Typically, park models don’t appreciate while a custom-built house appreciates,” said Mike Sokol, owner of Distinct Discovery Homes in Greenville, Mich., which specializes in high-end custom log cabins for consumers and private park operators. Units can be built with cathedral ceilings, ponderosa pine interiors, stone fireplaces, and wraparound porches.

“We can build their lodges, their bathhouses and their activity centers,” Sokol said.

Clayton Eash, owner of Ligonier, Ind.-based Riverside Cabins, started building log cabins three years ago after purchasing the business from his father-in-law. He said he started building custom log cabins for campgrounds to use as rental units last year and has had “an amazing amount of calls” after promoting his log cabins in WCM.

Eash uses white pine logs and believes that his structures will last longer than park models. “They’re built a lot stronger,” he said. “I also insulate them. It doesn’t take a lot to heat them.” He also uses log purlins instead of rafters to help support the roof. “People really like them,” he said.

Private park operators thus have a growing array of accommodations products from which to choose, and the list keeps growing as the RV park and campground sector turns toward these types of accommodations. Only time will tell how far this trend will extend, and how much it might ultimately change the face of the business.

“Units for rental purposes are a growing percentage of our business,” said Dick Grymonprez, vice president of marketing for Texas-based Athens Park Homes, whose company announced an agreement this month to provide park models for RVC Outdoor Destinations, which has private parks in Arkansas, Georgia and Florida.

“We’re real encouraged about the number of resorts that are looking at park models as either a rental unit or a unit to sell,” Grymonprez said, adding that the only thing keeping parks from purchasing greater numbers of units is continuing difficulties obtaining financing.

Athens introduced a rental cottage series last year. “It’s a series of units that have 6-foot front porches, Hardiboard siding and very sturdy interiors so they can handle the wear and tear of rental use.”

Breckenridge, Chariot Eagle,

Others Look for Solid 2010

Tim Howard, president and CEO of the Breckenridge Division of Thor’s Damon Corp., Nappanee, Ind., said the recent ARVC-Thor agreement has helped to energize the accommodations market sector. He also sees this year being a turning point of sorts for the park model business, which suffered a decline in sales during the recession along with other segments of the RV business.

“If I was doing a line graph and graphing the overall prevailing business, last year that line would have been headed down. This year it’s heading up,” he said.

Park models utilized as rental units by campgrounds are becoming an increasingly important market segment, according to Chariot Eagle founder and CEO Bob Holliday, whose company has manufacturing operations in Ocala, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz. Rather than spend money to purchase their own park model, many consumers may be inclined to rent one, he added. Chariot Eagle is also seeing more market optimism among its dealers and retail customers. “We expect business to be better this year than last year, which was the toughest in our 25 years,” he said.

“We see (campground rental products) being a growth market for us,” says Larry Weaver, national sales manager for CrossRoads RV, a Topeka, Ind., Thor subsidiary that introduced a travel trailer at ARVC’s annual InSites Convention in Orlando that has been “beefed up” so that it can be used as a rental unit.

So, too, does Nappanee, Ind.-based Fairmont Homes take an optimistic view of 2010, according to General Manager John Soard.

While 2009 was a tough year, Andy Davis, sales manager for Pinnacle Park Homes, Ochlocknee, Ga., says his company managed to stay profitable through the worst of the recession and is off to a “phenomenal” start this year.

And Western Homes’ Silvercrest Division, a Corona, Calif.-based subsidiary of Champion Enterprises, which has traditionally targeted consumers with its high-end park models, is looking for a continued surge of business from the high quality units the company is providing for timeshare developments in Northern California and Arizona. “These units are designed as rental units,” says Western Homes General Manager Al Whitehouse. “That’s why the timeshares have come to us. They sell at intervals, a week at a time, and they are specifically interested in the durability of the units.”

Michigan Parks Featured on KOA 2010 Directory Cover

Professional photography taken in the fall of 2009 at three Kampgrounds of America (KOA) parks in Michigan is being featured in the 2010 edition of the annual KOA Directory.

More than 1 million copies of the directory are currently being distributed to KOA campgrounds and campers across the U.S. and Canada, according to a news release.

“We decided to do our professional photo shoot at Emmett, Flint and Port Huron because we knew they are beautiful campgrounds, and would truly represent the best of the KOA system,” said Lorne Armer, vice president of marketing for Kampgrounds of America Inc.

The Emmett KOA, owned by Chris and Deborah Pietras,  has photographs displayed on the cover of the directory, as well as several other pages in the 245-page directory. The annual KOA Directory carries complete listings and maps for the more than 475 KOA campgrounds in North America.

The Holly/Flint KOA is owned by Wynn Taylor, and the Port Huron KOA is owned and operated by Shirley and Howard Stein.

The three parks are located north of the metro Detroit area.

The photographs, taken by professional photographer Jeff Dow, will also be used in other materials KOA distributes to its campers.

For more information on Kampgrounds of America, go to www.koa.com. To view other photographs by Jeff Dow, go to www.jeffdow.com.

Aussies Like KOA’s Campground Operating System

Kampgrounds of America’s (KOA) KampSight campground operating system has found a new home – and a new name – on the other side of the world.

BIG4 Holiday Parks of Australia has adopted KOA’s KampSight as its software for centralized online reservations, renaming their version of the industry-leading system BIG4 PAM (Park Accommodation Management), according to a news release.

BIG4 PAM is a simple, all-in-one, web-based system for accommodation management that will not only improve the day-to-day operation of each member park in Australia and increase revenue, but will arm the BIG4 group with valuable consumer insights, improving its ability to market to different customer groups.

Already, five BIG4 parks are using the new system, which enables them to track all room allocation in real time, removing the ongoing task of uploading inventory and ensuring they are not missing out on any potential business. In its first year of operation BIG4′s new website, featuring 24-pages for each of its 180-plus parks, has generated in excess of $6 million in bookings. The increased revenue is now averaging in excess of $1 million per month with between $10 million and $12 million of online revenue forecast for the financial year.

“An upgraded, centralized system will only add to this increased revenue our parks are already enjoying,” says BIG4 Holiday Parks CEO Terry Goodall.

“Our relationship with Kampgrounds of America enables BIG4 to share best practice and adopt systems like this, which is modeled on KOA’s KampSight system. These initiatives all provide a better customer experience and further cement our position as market leader,” he said.

“One of the key advantages with BIG4 PAM is the removal of the need to constantly upload room inventory to the system. Typically, people will book a holiday between 30-40 days out, but potentially up to a year out, so by having a comprehensive offering of room availability our parks can capture that business then and there. We don’t even like to think how much business our parks may have missed out on where inventory wasn’t loaded.”

Goodall said KOA’s proven track record with the KampSight operating system has enabled BIG4 to recommend this system to its parks with uncompromised confidence.

“KOA has been using this online accommodation management system at 100 per cent of its parks for three years now, with the system providing great benefits to its 400-plus parks. While our system has some similar functions, we know from KOA’s experience with their model that there is significant potential to increase revenue and further build our brand with a centralized system,” he says.

KOA Chairman and CEO Jim Rogers said the benefits KOA’s centralized park management system has been providing both for guests and park owners.

“Today’s hospitality guests want recognition, customized services, and technologically advanced conveniences. KOA’s centralized park management system allows us to serve guests with the most advanced high tech/high touch technology in the outdoor hospitality sector,” Rogers said.

“Over the last three years, more than 1 million bookings have been made directly online, with the average booking $120 giving a total revenue value of $120 million. Currently 30% of all bookings taken are made through KOA’s centralized reservation system, and that is growing.

“The guest data has allowed us to launch the first automated loyalty rewards frequent camper program in North America,” Rogers said. “It also serves as the basis for our comprehensive guest feedback research which allows targeting very specific service and marketing opportunities by camper and park. Developed by park owners, the system includes financial, accounting, and reservations systems they needed to optimize the park business.”

BIG4 Holiday Parks plans to have all its parks transitioned onto the BIG4 PAM system within the next three years.

For more information on Kampgrounds of America Inc., visit www.koa.com. For more on BIG4 Holiday Parks, go to www.big4.com.au.

Campers Expect and Find Comfort in Today’s World

Little Bennett Regional Park hopes marshmallows delivered to a fully furnished campsite attracts campers in a world more aware of Facebook than fall foliage.

For an extra $25 per night, the Montgomery County, Md., park will set up a campsite, complete with four-person tent, chairs, lantern and a propane stove, according to WTOP Radio, Washington, D.C.

Virginia and Maryland’s fall foliage hot lines say the trees’ colors are peaking in the states’ western regions and beginning to turn red, orange and yellow in the states’ central and eastern regions.

The sights at the county’s largest park wasn’t the most memorable experience for Rockville’s Merlyn Perez, who took her daughter Lelani to Little Bennett for a two-night taste of sleeping outside.

“They even had an ice cream social for the kids,” she said of the summer trip.

That’s just the beginning of more comfortable camping in today’s world. Coleman produces built-in alarm clocks, speakers for MP3 players and night lights on its air mattresses and Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) operates wireless networks at many campsites. DirecTV offers a portable satellite.

To really create the world in the woods, real beds and fine linens await campers, if you can call them that, at Montana’s The Resort at Paws Up, where butlers prepare guests’ meals. Campers at El Capitan Canyon in California rest on hand-woven willow beds inside canvas tents kept dry and safe thanks to wooden platforms. The KOA site near Santa Cruz, Calif. offers feather beds.

Mike Gast, Kampgrounds of America’s vice president of communications, said, “You have to offer the all-inclusive camping experience,” he said. “Barbecues, ice cream socials. Some of our sites even have climbing walls.”

At Coleman, the concept of comfortable camping guides many products they develop. “It needs to be comfortable. Otherwise, people are going to stay inside and do Facebook,” said Jeff Willard, the company’s senior vice president of global marketing and new product development.

Things must change, environmental educator Cheryl Charles said, if kids and adults are to enjoy the outdoors.

“We’re not against technology,” she said. “But when kids spend so much time hooked to (an) electronic umbilical cord — things have to change.”

She and Richard Louv co-founded the Children & Nature Network in response to “nature deficit disorder.” They want to get adults and kids in the woods more. And they’re willing to find new ways of doing it, even if it goes against the grain of traditional camping and those who practice it.

“I would not be critical of ‘glamping,’” she said of the new term to describe the glamorous aspect of a more high-tech, comfortable camping trip. “There’s not one right way to reconnect with nature. If some people are resistant and need a cot, that’s just fine.”

Dzungh Pham has now experienced both kinds of camping. In August, he, his wife Trinh Le and their 6-year-old son Matthew spent a weekend with friends at Little Bennett.

The roomy neon green tent set up in advance for him and his family sat on a concrete platform near the lantern and waiting propane stove. That doesn’t mean the man who’s been through the “real-campers-rough-it school of camping,” was completely comfortable with such a pleasant experience that required so little of him.

“If my family in Texas could see me now, they’d laugh,” he said.

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