Some families plan trips each summer to eventually visit every major league ballpark across America. Over the past two years, Patty Lynn Groden and her family have embarked on a similar pursuit of camping.
Groden, her husband, and their two sons had never been camping together before the pandemic. But after experiencing it for the first time in August 2020, they bought her RV and began frequenting Jellystone’s Park campground, where they tie-dyed her shirt and yogi her bear. and snapshots with friends.
Groden said her family hopes to visit a new campground each summer.You can’t go to every place.
“The time has come when we can come together as a family,” she said. “I don’t think this is going to end anytime soon.”
Camping shows signs of remaining popular, even as pandemic restrictions ease and many Americans become accustomed to indoor activities.
The global market for camping and caravans is expected to grow by 6.6% from 2020 to 2025, according to the report. research and marketAnd the number of RVs shipped in 2021 is Recorded 39% According to a report by StorageCafe, a division of real estate software firm Yardi Systems,
To capitalize on that growing interest, national campground companies such as Campgrounds of America and Northgate Resorts, which owns several locations in Jellystone, are building triangular structures strung over uneven patches of dirt. I am moving beyond the tent. We are adding resort-like accommodations and working on theme park attractions such as ziplines and water slides.
Robert Schutter, Jr., president of Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp Resorts, a franchise system owned by real estate investment trust Sun Communities, said: “It wasn’t considered to be this rugged type of scenario.
The trend to add eye-catching amenities has faced backlash from fans of traditional camping, who prefer “rough” to “glamping,” but camping companies are undeterred and pushing forward.
Jellystone is perhaps best known for its branding partnerships with Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters (now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). But in recent years, Jellystone has also become known for including on-site restaurants, full-service cabins resembling luxury hotel rooms, and water recreational activities such as “spray grounds” that appeal to families like Groden’s. I got
“We love huge water parks,” Groden said in August on her third trip to Jellystone Park in Millrun, Pennsylvania. gaga ball just now. We end the night by going to the pool together and sitting around the campfire. “
Most Jellystone campgrounds average 240 sites, about 8 sites per acre. The company receives more than 4 million guests annually, with an average visitor stay of just over 3 days.
During the first year of the pandemic, about half of the patrons were first-time visitors, renting accommodations ranging from cabins to yurts.
“The pandemic has turned out to be a very powerful boon for us in clarifying what we have to offer,” Schutter said. “Convincing them that this is a continued alternative is the really hard part.”
Since 2013, Northgate Resorts has opened 19 Jellystone franchise locations, often at existing campgrounds purchased from owners considering retirement. If the campground only had to add signage and Yogi Bear-themed elements, the conversion would typically cost about $50,000 and take eight months to he a year. But large-scale reuse projects can take him up to three years and cost millions of dollars, Schutter said.
Zach Bossenbrook, CEO of Northgate Resorts, said the factors to consider when opening a new franchise are proximity to the city center and other nearby attractions, as well as a “typical camping experience.” He said that it is possible to maintain the “sensation”.
“If it looks like any other land you or I might pass by on a daily basis, it probably isn’t exciting enough or seen as a scenic campground,” says Bossenbrook.
One of Northgate’s Jellystone franchises, the 600-acre resort in Bostic, North Carolina includes views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. What was once a Girl Scout camp is home to hiking trails, gem mining, pickleball his court, and an air-conditioned 10-foot-tall treehouse.
Less than a two-hour drive from Charlotte, North Carolina, Bostic Resort also hosts themed events such as Luau Week, Christmas in July, and Ghost Trails around Halloween.
Northgate also operates destinations beyond Jellystone, such as Camp Fimfo in Texas, which opened last July and includes “red carpet RV sites” complete with charcoal grills and fire rings. Hot tubs, fly fishing on the Guadalupe River, and taverns serving craft cocktails are just some of the services offered on hundreds of acres between San Antonio and Austin.
However, the travel industry faces obstacles to growth such as rising gas prices, inflation and capricious travelers.of Northern Wisconsin, residents are fighting campgrounds over use of lakeside land.His one location in Jellystone Hudson Valley in New York has received complaints from locals about excessive noise and late-night parties.
But since most campgrounds are reachable with a tank of gas, offer all-inclusive packages, and allow social distancing, many owners think their camping renaissance can withstand these hurdles. I’m here.
But some traditionalists believe that too much equipment can dilute the camping experience. said that the industrialization of camping eliminated the need for camping skills such as making fires and setting up tents.
Avid campers have long enjoyed a relatively low-cost weekend, packed into a cheap tent, and headed to a campground with plenty of open space. Now, an influx of apps, booking sites, and online reviews has turned what was once a secret spot into a vacation hotspot that must be booked months in advance.
“It suffers from a lack of ability to turn anything into an industry and a lack of purity as longtime campers say, where it’s just you and the tent of the elements,” Murphy said. .
Including non-traditional camping activities at campgrounds is nothing new. Campgrounds of America, which operates more than 520 campgrounds in the United States and Canada, has swimming pools, water slides and tennis courts, Murphy said. was one of the first companies to offer such facilities.
Today, Kampgrounds of America has three campgrounds: KOA Journey, KOA Holiday, and KOA Resort, which Murphy prefers to be rustic or vacation-like, complete with disc golf courses and electric vehicle charging stations. offers.
Since 2020, 19 million households have tried camping for the first time, with one-third of that population citing the pandemic as a reason, said Ann Emerson, chief operating officer of Campgrounds of America’s franchise division. said, citing her company’s research.
During the same period, Campgrounds of America added 51 newly constructed or converted campgrounds.
Even small independent companies see the potential in creating campsites with comforts you wouldn’t normally think of when looting campsites in the woods.
Wild Acadia Camping Resort in Trenton, Maine was rebranded in July after operating as a 12-acre amusement park on 100 acres for nearly 40 years. The camping resort covers approximately 50 acres and has recreational options such as RV sites, Wi-Fi, fiber optic cable connections, ropes courses, rock climbing walls, trampolines and basketball.
Early in the pandemic, resort co-owners Andrew and James Allen realized they would not be opening their seasonal amusement park in the summer of 2020. Resort. With Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park nearby, the Allens have been thinking about turning the amusement park into a campground since he took over the land in 2011.
“I’m confident the industry will continue to grow in this direction,” Murphy said of resort-style campgrounds. “Some people even look at fields, farmlands, private property and say, ‘Wait a minute, if this is a campground, we can make a lot of money here.'”