If you’re a campground operator looking to maximize your business, just fielding reservations might feel like a challenge.

How do you maximize occupancy? Where is the best place to focus your energy? How do you create a better booking experience?

If you want to elevate the online reservation experience for guests, you can take some meaningful, practical steps. Here are eight ways to create a better booking experience for guests.

1. Run ads on Google and Facebook.

First and foremost, you may find that the biggest bang for your buck will likely come from running ads on Google and Facebook.

The average cost to reach 1,000 people in magazine and newspaper ads is between $20 and $32, whereas the same reach by Google AdWords and Facebook will only run you $2.75 and $0.25, respectively.

To give this some more perspective, on average, 28.6 million U.S. citizens read a newspaper; however, there are currently over 100 million Americans on Facebook and at least 246 million unique Google users in the U.S.

Not to mention, you can target the specific audience and region for your ads.

For industry proof, here’s a helpful read about how Camping World had a very successful Facebook ad campaign last year in which they were able to achieve 84 percent more leads.

2. Take online reservations.

Nothing beats online reservations.

Before the pandemic, people made over 148.3 million travel reservations (across multiple industries) annually online. Since then, the online travel industry has grown to nearly $600 billion.

Campgrounds with online reservation systems have had a lot to do with those numbers. Parks like Golden Municipal took 100 percent of their bookings online last year and will continue to do the same in 2021.

The reason? It’s just easier.

For starters, online reservation systems can arrange reservations to maximize your campground, ensuring you don’t end up with awkward one-night openings in your calendar.

You can easily do this yourself by dragging a reservation to a different campsite, like this:

Additionally, interactive calendars, like the one below, allow guests to choose sites based on availability. With remote work allowing everyone’s travel dates to be a little more flexible, this optimizes your calendar by showing available camping dates.

Couple all of this with the fact that online systems lower staffing costs, increase revenue, provide clear reporting, and save you time, and it’s definitely the number one way to boost occupancy at your campground.

3. Have a mobile-friendly website.

Our data shows that mobile users account for 60 percent of our bookings.

Internet use has grown to nearly 300 million users, and at least 69 percent of those users are logging in via a smartphone or mobile device. Also, 75 percent of consumers use their mobile devices to search and visit a nearby business within a day.

Adding to that, 34 percent of consumers will exit a website entirely if a landing page’s content doesn’t load properly on their mobile device. As a result, campgrounds that do not have an easy-to-navigate mobile website will ultimately lose out on many reservations.

If you’re in the market for website design, Good Sam Campground Solutions can add a lot of value to your customer experience almost overnight.

4. Make your pricing clear.

Going hand-in-hand with a great website is clear pricing (or at least precise pricing estimates). Our campgrounds constantly tell us how tedious it is to field phone calls and emails from campers looking for a quote (especially after hours).

Additionally, having an online system with clear pricing and yield management (also known as dynamic pricing) allows you to accommodate peak and shoulder seasons alike. Guests can easily get a quote and make reservations while you’re sleeping.

5. Take good photos of your campground.

Websites and articles with relevant and quality photos lead to 94 percent more views than those without. In fact, 44 percent of potential guests won’t even engage with a site if the content images are grainy or don’t load.

We recently sent a Campground Solutions affiliate to take photos of Klahanie Campground in Squamish, BC, and Ephrata RV Park in Central Washington. After the campground owners added the images to their online reservation system, they informed us that the simple addition led to a “massive” conversion of campers booking online.

Even if you’re on a budget or all you have access to is a smartphone, you can still take quality pictures that will increase online engagement. Here’s a list of tips for taking great iPhone photos from iMore.

6. Get lots of reviews.

The reality is that people choose campgrounds based on good reviews.

Ninety-seven percent of consumers use the internet to find local businesses – meaning that what people are saying online carries a lot of weight. So odds are that almost everyone booking a campsite at your park has seen your Google reviews by searching for your business online.

Paying attention to Google, Facebook, and TripAdvisor for reviews is certainly worth your time. But to make a bigger splash, park owners should primarily focus on campground review sites like Campendium, Campground Reviews, and The Dyrt.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our article on the review sites campground owners need to watch.

7. Connect with guests.

If you want to create the best booking experience for guests, nothing beats connecting with them directly!

The reality is that email marketing can see a 4300% return on investment (ROI) for your campground, and every dollar spent on email marketing can bring in nearly $45.

When guests book or arrive, get their email and send them announcements for upcoming events, discounts for future stays, or periodic reminders to book their next stay with you. Just make sure you don’t spam them with emails!

8. Give the option to “Stay one more day.” 

There are a number of travelers who are willing to spend a couple of weeks in your neck of the woods under the pretense that they don’t have to hop from campground to campground.

If you have the flexibility or empty sites, why not encourage your overnight guests to stay longer? When campers arrive, let them know that they are welcome to extend their stay an extra night if they’re enjoying their time. Just check their campsite in your reservation system to make sure their same campsite is available first!

Creating a better booking experience.

If you’re a park operator looking to grow your campground, creating an easier and more thoughtful reservation experience will increase occupancy. 

1. Try out targeted ads through Facebook and Google.
2. Offer online reservations.
3. Create a mobile-friendly experience.
4. Have clearly-listed pricing.
5. Take photos of your campground.
6. Collect reviews.
7. Start building an email list.
8. Allow guests to extend their stay.

While there’s plenty of trial and error, your park will start seeing substantial growth quickly with the right resources and the right plan.

Want some help managing your campground?

Taking online reservations is the easiest way to offload day-to-day tasks, allowing you to focus on the things that make your park unique. If you’re looking for an easier solution to managing your campground, Good Sam can help. Request a demo today!

Your campground needs an online reservation software.

Over 148.3 million online travel reservations were made in 2019 alone. By the end of 2020 the online travel industry was estimated to be worth over $800 billion; and with more people camping as a result of the pandemic, this number is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

With so many people traveling, there are plenty of online reservation softwares for campground owners; but it can also be a challenge finding the right one for your business.

What features does your campground need out of a reservation software? What should you expect to pay for an online booking system? How much support will a campground software provide?

To help navigate what’s out there, here are three considerations for finding the right RV park reservation software for your campground.

Features.

Obviously, every campground is different, and not every park requires the same tools.

Maybe your campground has specific requirements for pricing around holidays and peak seasons. Maybe you need a service that can bundle your accounting and point of sale. Maybe you just need a user-friendly system without a learning curve for your employees.

Regardless of what your campground needs, here are a few features to consider.

Online reservations.

Online booking systems just make life easier, for you and your guests.

Services like Good Sam’s Campground Solutions can automate and handle all of your reservations, giving you back (literally) weeks of your year spent on fielding phone calls and emails. Not to mention, they’ll market your campground for you, bringing in even more online traffic, and guaranteeing higher occupancy.

Furthermore, online reservations allow for last-minute reservations (as in the day or week-of) which has brought in an additional 5 percent to 7 percent annually for some of our campgrounds; and in some cases, could even add up to 44 percent of a park’s business.

Drag and drop dashboard.

A drag and drop dashboard gives you the ability to easily move guests around on a reservation grid. You can check in campers, print parking passes, issue refunds, and add individualized notes to camper profiles.

A fully interactive system can cut down on the time it takes to train employees and work campers, while making it easier to navigate your reservations week to week.

Dynamic pricing.

A flexible pricing system allows you to create booking minimums during peak seasons, as well as increase revenue on popular weekends. Dynamic pricing gives you the autonomy to adjust pricing based on your park’s business model, and ensures maximum profit.

Reporting and integrations.

Ideally, a good reservation system will be a one-stop-shop for everything you need to run your business – including reporting and integrations.

Whether it’s check-ins, cancellations, inventory, or any other feature of your business, you need daily reporting to show you how your park is performing over time. Plus, life is much simpler when your system integrates directly with other tools like Quickbooks, or third party channel partners like Go RVing Canada.

Point of sale (POS).

If you have a camp store or online inventory, having a POS will make things easier on you and your customer.

A cloud-based POS system can run off of an iPad or smart tablet device, and integrates directly with your accounting and reporting, keeping all of your financials in one place.

For a decent POS, you can expect to pay between $79 and $150 a month.

Pricing.

Similar to feature offerings, campground booking softwares can offer a number of different pricing models; so it’s important to think through what makes the most sense for your business.

Do you want a free system that charges guests a convenience fee? Do you want a system that takes a commission out of your bookings? Do you want a hybrid pricing plan with both?

To give you a better idea of what to expect, here are three different pricing models you’ll come across when looking for a system for RV park reservations.

Booking-based model.

Like most online storefronts, reservation softwares generally make a large chunk of their money off of online booking (or convenience) fees. You’ll also find some negotiation in pricing between booking fees and monthly (or yearly) rates.

At the end of the day, these models tend to work in the park operator’s favor, allowing them to pocket most of the revenue. For instance, Good Sam parks can get started for free (with guests only paying $1 per reservation), and non-members can use the platform for $99 a month (with guests paying $3 per reservation).

The advantage of this model is complete autonomy and control for park owners who just want a  little help running their business.

Agency model.

Some reservation systems will, however, operate more like an online travel agency (OTA).

In this model they’ll give you their platform for next-to-nothing as a “dangling carrot,” but then they’ll outrank your campground’s listing on Google to control where the reservations are coming from.

This means that even though you could make your own bookings and claim most (if not all) of the profit, they’ll likely still bring in most of your reservations and charge a commission on anything they send your way.

Now, this can be beneficial for campgrounds looking to outsource the headache of maximizing their reservations; however, it will likely cost you 10-30 percent of your annual reservations.

Merchant model.

A merchant model is almost an agency model in reverse, where the OTA receives inventory (sites) from your campground at a discounted rate, and then books guests at a marked-up rate.

With a merchant model, the OTA will charge guests on the front end, and then give you the discounted rate, while they pocket the difference. They will also foot the bill on credit card fees, and show up on a statement (instead of your park).

Again, this offloads a lot of the heavy lifting for collecting reservations, but it will definitely cut into your profits.

Support.

A good reservation software should also come with a competent support staff that can manage any training and troubleshooting your park needs.

When you’re looking for a team to work with at your campground, be sure to ask the right questions.

• Do they provide hands-on support?
• Does their team work alongside yours to create maps, add sites, or walk you through your user accounts?
• How quickly do they work to get your park setup with a launch date?
• Can they get your park up and running in a week?
• How long does it take them to jump on a problem to troubleshoot a bug in the system?
• Do they provide 24/7 assistance?
• Are they friendly and easy to work with?

Finding the right RV park reservation software.

With more people booking online, and with more reservation services than ever, there’s certainly one that will work for your campground.

As you consider the best option, make it a point to think through:

1. What features do they offer?
2. What does their pricing model entail?
3. How much support do they provide?

Still looking for a reservation system?

Good Sam has you covered! Providing campgrounds with marketing and advertising, online reservations, personal support, and access to a network of over 2 million RVers, Good Sam takes the heavy lifting out of managing your park. Request a demo today!