Are RV owners getting rich off their workers?
Over 4,000 recreational vehicle (RV) parks and campgrounds in the US have combined annual revenue of about $2 billion. Major companies include Kampgrounds of America (KOA) and Thousand Trails. Most RV parks and campgrounds are single locations and privately held. The RV parks and campgrounds industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest companies account for about 25 percent of industry revenue. A typical campground has less than $500,000 in annual revenue and about five employees.
They go on to say that campgrounds are labor intensive, average annual revenue per employee is less than $100,000.
How much of that revenue is profit does depend on whether this is an established campground run by the same owners for years or if there are new owners. If the owners have purchased the park recently, they could have a huge debt load. Insurance and utilities are major costs too. Campgrounds are not inexpensive.
So, the answer is that some parks could pay more - and some have high expenses offsetting that revenue. Workers on the RV road should know that compensation varies considerably. In winter, paying jobs are not as plentiful as in summer and, in some areas like Florida, RV parks can generally get plenty of workers and require up to 24 hours of work per week just for the site!
The best thing is not to worry about whether the park owner could be paying you more. Determine what you need and want in the way of compensation in the general location that you want. Chances are there is a match for you if you focus and are persistent. Jaimie
For information on Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, see RVBookstore.com.
5 Comments:
We take the offered compensation and divide by the hours required and then decide if it's worth it. The two things that gripe us are having single work campers work fewer hours. If they paid for the site with dollars they'd pay the same. The second is that many times work campers are treated like gypsies. I pay for my site with hours that are worth the dollars if I'd chosen to pay taht way. When I'm off work I'm a guest the same as anyone else. Camping facilities need to grow up and treat their work campers civily.
By Anonymous, at November 10, 2007 12:03 PM
As a campground owner, along with the bank, I realize that there are some parks that do take advantage of their workcampers. I would hope that this is the exception. For a number of years we have had terrific workers who have toiled for our campsite. They are certainly not overworked but are certainly appreciated. We are a reasonably small operation and additional renumeration would be a little difficult.
By Anonymous, at November 10, 2007 7:12 PM
My wife and I have been Workamping for eight years and working for $2,$3,$4 per hour each - sometime 12 to 16 hours a day (when we manage) and we get treated like slave labor. We tried this summer just working 15 hours per week each for a site. Same treatment. Not one place have we been appreciated or treated fairly. We've been lied to, cheated, used and abused. Enough! We'll boondock or stay on friends or relatives property. If we want a treat, we'll stay at a State or County Park maybe once a year. We won't give those RV Parks a dime (currency or labor).
By Anonymous, at November 13, 2007 10:29 AM
We have worked for the past three summers at both a hotel in AK and an amusement park in NH. Both have treated us very well and the cost of the site was reasonable. Our pay was what we had agreed to.
Remember you are on wheels and if you don't like how you are treated "MOVE"
Also keep in mind as far as pay goes, you know in advance what you will get. If you don't like it, don't take the job.
By Mitchelmal, at November 16, 2007 3:45 AM
Thanks for all your comments.
To avoid feeling used and abused, it is critical to figure out just what you are "paying" when you work in exchange for an RV site. That way you can determine beforehand if it is a fair exchange. If not, as mitchelmal suggests, don't take it.
I'm sure our campground owner offers a fair exchange or he/she wouldn't have such good workers year after years.
I've written an article on how to value your campsite - "What is a campsite worth?" You can read it at http://www.rvhometown.com/HTML/Working/Camp site_Value.htm
Should you get the best site in the park if you are working there? Any comments on that? Jaimie
By Jaimie Hall, at November 16, 2007 1:32 PM
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