KOA’s Saskia Boogman On Solving The Campground Crunch

Over the past several years, the RV industry has seen a growing interest in camping, a trend that has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Saskia Boogman, Director of Public Relations for Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA), last year, 10.1 million households camped for the first time – a rate nearly five times that in 2019. Similarly, 2021 has been another impressive year for camping, and she expects this trend to continue.

This has meant that campgrounds across the board -- regardless of location and amenities -- have become much busier. However, says Boogman, it’s definitely true that locations near popular national destinations are more likely to book early and to be full.

“The fact is, the more popular a place or location, the more crowded it will be more often,” she says. “But it’s also worth noting that campgrounds that are in these locations are generally well-equipped to handle capacity crowds, so RVers should still expect a relaxing stay even if they have neighbors nearby.”

KOA, which has 525 locations in North America, has been very aware of these private and public campground availability concerns and has been working on ways to make it easier for their franchise owners to expand their campgrounds. They are currently offering free design services, royalty rebates, and their Campground of the Future grant program which offers funds to campground owners completing forward-thinking campground updates.

 “We are also seeing an influx of new-build campgrounds that will also offer relief,” says Boogman. “We work very closely with owners looking to build campgrounds from the ground up based on our nearly 60 years of industry experience.”

The popularity of camping clearly offers challenges, but also solutions, not only for campground operators, but for RVers, as well.

“We have always advised campers and RVers to book as early as their plans allow,” says Boogman, who notes that most campgrounds open their calendars at least a year in advance. In some areas, like Yellowstone, she recommends planning six—or more—months ahead. For popular campgrounds that are not quite as high in demand, she suggests booking at least a month in advance. “It’s still very possible to find a great campground, especially if they consider adding weekdays to their trips or avoiding holiday weekends.”

As the summer winds down, Boogman still sees openings across the KOA system of campgrounds, although it might take a bit more searching to find an opening, she says, especially on weekends.

To make this searching easier, KOA has added the ability to search by location and dates to find open sites. This means that rather than searching campground by campground, RVers can instead see openings at multiple locations in a given area. For example, if they search “Nashville” with their preferred dates and a bit of information about their rigs, it will show the availability at all KOAs nearby.

“This really takes a lot of the work out of planning trips during busier times of year,” she says.

Boogman also suggests RVers call campgrounds if they’re not finding anything online. It’s possible they will have cancellations or be able to work around reservations a bit differently than is possible online. They might also consider looking at campgrounds a bit further from popular places. A short drive can result in lower rates, less crowding, and an easier to book reservation, she says.

Clearly, flexibility can help a lot as more people discover RVing, especially flexibility around dates of travel.

“Can they move that Yellowstone vacation to September?” asks Boogman, who, as a native Montanan, claims it’s a better time to visit anyway. “Fall is one of the best times to camp and RVers are catching on!”

Last year, KOA had their most successful fall on record and, based on advanced reservations, their campgrounds will likely continue to be busy into the fall. But for the most part, she predicts, the campgrounds should be a bit less busy than peak summer months.

Boogman notes that that rates at campgrounds have gone up as more people have discovered the RV lifestyle. While these haven’t been huge increases, it’s likely they’ll notice their favorite campground might have had small increases.

“It’s really an issue of supply and demand,” she says, noting that RVers may have to change their spontaneity mindset a little so they have the best trip they can. It’s still possible to find “day of” reservations, but they should be prepared to not have access to the best sites or to have to try a couple of parks before finding a spot.

As far as this winter, KOA is keeping a close eye on what will happen with the Canadian border. “Snowbirding” is very popular among Canadian RVers. If the U.S.-Canadian border is open by then, they expect to have an especially busy snowbird season