As the world leader in advancing outdoor hospitality, Kampgrounds of America (KOA) is consistently seeking new ways to optimize revenue and bring additional tools and best practices to our franchisees to help them do the same.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, society was challenged to find new ways to connect to each other and camping rose to the forefront of conversation. The corresponding surge in demand brought rapid growth to the industry. Since 2020, over 19 million households camped for the very first time according to the North American Camping Report. With this rapid growth came new entrants and increased competition which presented a unique challenge to protecting and growing the business. KOA saw this challenge as an opportunity to integrate more closely with proven methods used in the traditional hospitality industry, namely revenue management.
The goal of revenue management is to offer the right rate to the right guest at the right time via the right distribution channel with the goal of growing registration revenue and more effectively competing in each market. Over the last two years, KOA has built out a Revenue Management department fully focused on achieving this goal and now has a team of revenue managers working with KOA’s 51 Owned and Operated Assets. As KOA continues to adapt based on key learnings, new revenue management capabilities are being mapped out to provide franchisees opportunities to reap the benefits as well.
So, what does revenue management mean for KOA? The Revenue Management department has adopted a holistic, strategic approach to revenue management focused on a few key areas:
Data and Data Visualization
K2 is KOA’s proprietary campground management system. K2 reports, as well as new business intelligence tools are being used to analyze data on guest behavior, booking patterns, market trends, and competitor performance. By harnessing this data, the revenue management team is identifying opportunities for revenue growth based on existing sites for each campground while also informing the best use of capital investment to generate the highest return on investment. KOA’s newly created Revenue Technology team builds visualization tools to present complex data in a user-friendly and visually appealing format. These tools make it seamless to interpret and communicate insights to key stakeholders, foster collaboration and make better strategy decisions.
Rate Management
By analyzing historical occupancy for different site types, customer segmentation, market trends, and demand patterns, KOA revenue managers implement dynamic pricing techniques to adjust rates based on shifts in demand. By setting the right prices at the right time for the right customer, they maximize revenue per available site.
Competitive Strategy
Competitors’ pricing and value proposition is closely monitored and analyzed to adjust parks’ strategies and gain a competitive edge. Through close collaboration between the marketing, operations and revenue teams, KOA is implementing commercial strategies to optimize pricing, identify gaps in the market, and differentiate from competitors, ultimately driving profitability.
Ancillary Revenue
Revenue management extends beyond site revenue, encompassing various ancillary revenue streams including golf carts and bike rentals, recreation activity revenue, food and beverage, events spaces and more. Though KOA is just starting to scratch the surface on ancillary revenue management, the goal is to apply the same proven techniques to optimize revenue through dynamic pricing, bundling, and distribution strategies to optimize revenue from a 360-degree perspective.
KOA is among the first outdoor hospitality brands to adopt revenue management on a large scale and in doing so is helping to pave the way for how it can drive growth. By leveraging revenue management strategies, KOA campgrounds are increasing revenue, achieving higher average daily rates, and driving profitability from site as well as ancillary revenue streams, all while maintaining an excellent guest experience. As KOA continues to develop its revenue management capabilities, there is strong commitment to set franchise owners up for success by sharing best practices through training and education initiatives. Extensive work is also being done to enhance Property Management System (PMS) functionalities to ensure that execution of revenue management tactics is effective and easy to use. New tools to support competitive analysis and forecasting as well as enhanced reporting and data visualization capabilities are underway to ensure that franchise owners have all the data needed to grow their business. Plans are also in place to expand the revenue management team to include dedicated resources for the franchise system.
With the tremendous growth of both new campers and new competition over the past few years, it is more important than ever to partner with a brand leads the industry in both experience and resources to unlock full potential. KOA’s adoption of revenue management strategies and tools is one of many advantages of becoming a franchisee.
Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA) is the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds with 500+ locations across the U.S. and Canada united under the mission of “connecting people to the outdoors and each other.” The industry leader in outdoor hospitality, KOA’s family of campground brands – KOA Journey, KOA Holiday and KOA Resort – offer sites and amenities designed for every type of camping experience. In addition to unrivaled brand visibility, KOA offers campground owners unparalleled support, marketing, and technology. The company’s proprietary reservation software, K2, delivers campgrounds a completive advantage within the market. Founded in 1962 in Billings, Mont. and celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022, KOA now serves more than a million camping families each year, who rely on the standards of excellence and unique outdoor adventures for which KOA is known. For more information, visit KOA.com.
To learn more about joining the KOA Family of Campgrounds, contact us:
CALL US (800) 548-7239
EMAIL US: FRANCHISESALES@KOA.NET