Camping season is an exciting time for outdoor enthusiasts and campground owners alike. It’s a time when people can connect with friends and family, enjoy the great outdoors, and escape the fast-paced hustle of the day-to-day. For campground owners and operators, this is a particularly lucrative time when you can welcome new and returning guests with a memorable camping experience. But how can you make sure you’re prepared for the busy summer months?
By optimizing your campground website, marketing to guests, gaining insights from data reports, providing staff with ongoing training, and prioritizing seamless check-in experiences, you can ensure your team is ready to handle peak season, provide optimal guest experiences, and maximize revenue.
Here are the five places to start today.
- Optimize your website and make sure all external-facing info is updated.
The first step you can take to prep for the busy season is optimizing your campground website. With so many things to take care of on your property, a website might not seem a top priority. However, it can be your greatest tool in attracting new campers and increasing direct bookings.
First, take the time to confirm that your property policies are accurate for the upcoming season. This might include cancellation and minimum stay policies, which can help you avoid overbooking and inconveniencing your guests. Likewise, this is a great time of year to ensure your external-facing information, like phone numbers, email addresses, and office hours, are all accurate.
Next, take inventory of the content you have on your website and determine if any updates should be made to help your campground’s search engine optimization (SEO). No matter how big or small your website is, SEO is a powerful tool that helps determine your site’s performance in search rankings on sites like Google and Bing. This is critical because 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines. The higher your site ranks, the more likely you’ll attract new campers.
- Prioritize guest marketing.
Whether emailing a camper who hasn’t stayed with you in a while or a direct message to a new camper to offer upgrade options, a guest marketing strategy is the next way to elevate your campground. Your campground reservation software can play a significant role in this marketing approach.
Use a reservation management system, like RMS, to automate marketing communications like emails and SMS text messages. Some campground management systems combine a robust CRM with the reservation system, allowing you to create automated, triggered, and scheduled emails that your platform can send to individuals or segmented customer lists. Consider how you can go beyond confirmation emails to incorporate loyalty programs, campground store promotions and pre-arrival/post-check-out messages to deepen the relationship between you and your campers.
For the complete campground marketing toolkit including email templates, a customizable first time camper guide, and more, download RMS’s free guide here.
- Revamp your business reporting.
The quiet period before the busy season is also a great time to take an in-depth look at your previous data reports and create a benchmark for what to expect in the coming months. Review data from past high seasons like occupancy, pricing, and revenue to develop a strategy based on your anticipated demand. Examine your main booking channels last year and optimize availability based on that information.
While planning ahead, you can also set up recurring reports in your reservation management system that you might want to see during the peak season. For example, if you set more aggressive growth goals for this year, you may want to set up a daily revenue report to track your progress.
- Prepare your staff with ongoing training.
Your campground staff are the driving force behind your business operations and ensure your guests have the best experience possible. One of the best ways to empower your staff is by offering learning opportunities and supporting them with additional education, particularly if you’re using a new software or management platform.
Take this time to remind your team of all the ways they can learn more about your reservation management system or other property tech – including self-guided online resources, vendor-led support and training, webinars, eBooks, and blogs. Often, teams learn the basics of their software without understanding the full capabilities, so don’t miss an opportunity to help your staff grow and contribute to overarching business goals.
- Ensure you’re set up for contactless check-in.
Lastly, you can elevate your campground by implementing the technology upgrades today’s campers expect. A recent survey of Millennial and Gen Z campers uncovered that 85% would like to see more technology at campgrounds – including contactless check-in and check-out. After navigating a pandemic era of travel, many people have grown accustomed to contactless check-in and check-out processes and find them to be more efficient. It’s more convenient for campers and frees up your staff’s time so they can focus on important aspects of your business, like daily operations and providing excellent customer service.
Plan for Success
Overall, camping is expected to see a massive increase as 62% of campers say they want to camp more in 2024 – and experts predict that trend to continue in 2025. As we stand at the cusp of a busy camping season, campground owners and operators should use this time to reset, determine goals for the months ahead, and equip property staff with the tools they need to create memorable guest experiences.
If you’re ready to elevate your campground with the most experienced software on the market, request a personalized RMS demo today to discover how RMS can power up your park.
