By Chuck Woodbury
What’s good for business is not necessarily good for consumers. Or RVers.
For example, selling a ton of hamburgers is good for McDonald’s, but for its customers, a steady diet could lead to obesity and heart disease. A Double Quarter Pounder Cheeseburger with 740 calories has 42 grams of fat (more than half of a suggested daily allowance), including 20 grams of saturated fat, and 1,360 milligrams of sodium. And yet, McDonald’s sells these all day long, fattening up America and the world.
So, you might ask, what do hamburgers have to do with RVing?
Well, it’s my way of clarifying to you up front that I understand that not every product or service sold on the planet is good for us. Coca Cola isn’t exactly a health food.
So now we come to KOA, Kampgrounds of America, once referred to as the Motel 6 of campgrounds when its parks were less expensive. I am here today to suggest that KOA is no longer focused on serving RVers. Today, it’s about “glamping,” offering non-RVers stays in luxury cabins, designer tents, yurts, tee-pees, railroad cabooses, covered wagons and other profitable “glamping facilities.” Other RV parks are doing the same, but KOA is the best known.
This summer, an RV site at any KOA close to a popular national park may cost you $100, $150 or more a night — that is if you are lucky enough to find an available space. For example, a two-day weekday stay in my 32-foot motorhome at the KOA in West Glacier, Montana, for a full-hookup Super Site “with grass” goes for $199.70 a night. It would be higher on weekends or holidays.
But good luck getting a reservation. Most of the popular KOAs are already booked solid this summer.
So now here comes KOA with a proposal to turn its campground in New York’s Adirondacks into another Terramor Glampground (its first is in Bar Harbor, Maine), which will include 80 luxury tents, a lodge, swimming pool, event pavilion and employee housing. How about RV sites? None! Zero! RVers stay away!
In case you are interested, a two-night stay in late July in a two-person Bayberry Tent at the Bar Harbor Terramor will cost you $1,058 total ($529 a night).
More RV campsites needed
At a time when there are more RVers than ever vying for increasingly limited places to stay, KOA’s priority, I suggest, is maximizing profits at the expense of serving you and me the best it can. There is more money to earn in a glampground. Now, if I place my businessman’s hat securely upon my head, I understand. But as an RVer, I don’t like it a single bit.
KOA has every right to do whatever it wants, and the name of the game for almost any business is making money. But I am writing now from an RVer’s perspective. Let KOA build as many Terramors as it wants. But will somebody out there start building some affordable RV parks to make up for what KOA and others take away, to help satisfy increasing demand? Did you notice I used the word “affordable?”
The problem is, I don’t see anyone screaming and yelling about how RV parks are disappearing when they are needed more desperately than ever. Oh, yes, there are new RV parks, but many, if not most, are “resorts” where the cost of a night’s stay starts at $150 (or more). Others are designed for full-timers — modern day “trailer parks.”
When RVing suddenly got popular during the pandemic, RV manufacturers dumped a couple million quickly built units of questionable quality onto the camping scene. But in that same time relatively few new RV parks and campgrounds were created. Our Crowded Campgrounds column, which appears weekly in this newsletter, is by far our most popular feature. Last week’s installment attracted more than 430,000 views as of Friday evening (picture that: four Rose Bowl crowds). Read today’s offering.
Toby O’Rourke, the CEO of KOA, is in my opinion an exceptionally smart businesswoman. She knows what KOA needs to do to make money and I believe she always has an eye on the future. But from what I have observed of her lately suggests to me her company is now heading in a direction that is more passionate about serving the profitable “glamping” crowd than RVers, the traditional foundation of KOA’s business.
If you have ideas or a whole lot of money and want to invest in a chain of reasonably priced RV parks and campgrounds that ordinary people can afford please contact me. I’ll help any way I can.
(And in the meantime, please consider supporting RVtravel.com with a voluntary subscription. We’re the only RVing consumer website that is significantly supported by readers. Because of that we can post an article like this without fearing the loss of advertising support.)
##RVT1101
We own a lowly tent trailer. A pop up. Have gotten old (er) now and it is more of a struggle to set it up. Travel across the board has gotten prohibitively expensive. Often on our trips we combined staying at a motel with camping. The tent trailer easily towed behind our vehicle and also easily parked in motel parking lots. So we’d camp awhile, then stay in a motel a night or two. It was a great life. I say “was” because those days are starting to seem like the past.
We’ve just gotten old and it’s all seems like too much effort to travel some days. What I really can’t stand is a thing called dynamic pricing. Where if there is a big event in town, then motels cost much more per night. I googled motels for the Alburquerque Balloon Festival 2023. Rates were averaging $180 – $300 a night. Then I googled for the same day I was typing and rates were $80 – $140 a night. And near any major attraction, Yellowstone for example, camping fees and motels are sky high. All year round.
Why aren’t they building more campgrounds you ask? The answer is between neighbors complaining, zoning regulations, environmental impact studies, cost and a whole lot of other regulations it’s almost impossible to build one.
As was noted in yesterday’s “Campground Crowding” feature, small (mom & pop) campgrounds face too much red tape (often times). But the big resorts have no problem building because they have the finances to line local politician’s pockets and plenty of lawyers to fend off any opposition (again in most cases). Until local governments make it easier on the little guy, KOA and other big corporations will rule. I’ve never stayed at a KOA, probably never will. I find plenty of opportunities off the beaten path.
I completely agree with the article and the comments. I don’t think anyone is listening either over the rustle of cash. There are alternatives to the high priced resorts but are getting harder and harder to find.
I’m not sure there’s really anything we can do about the “new resorts”, especially since people are willing to pay out for glamping. We plain ole RVers may be left in the dust.
I’m mad too, Eddie! (old saying from around Texas) There have been parks – campgrounds, including state and city parks, that have been acquired by private entities in my state by corporations. Ever heard of Margaritaville? Well there is one trying to come into the southern part of DFW at a city run campground with well over 100 sites owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Southeast of Dallas, a state park with a long running lease on a private lake had to close recently since the land (owned by an energy company) was sold to a developer for a gated high end golf course community.
These are scenic and popular with campers of all kinds and constantly booked. Money talks.
How loud should we all scream? So far, the best we’ve gotten is day use at the state park until details and legalities get worked out. The city campground is still open but who knows for how long?
At least there is a new state park set to open later this year west of DFW. Better than nothing but we need more.
My prediction. The glamping fad will soon die out and look KOA will be left with a bunch of empty units.
You’re probably right, with the younger generations of today they will soon tire of their present lifestyle and move on to something else for entertainment, they get bored to soon to learn to enjoy their life.
I love it when Chicken Little starts screaming. In this case you choose to offer up, as examples, two of the most heavily traveled locations in the country of KOA turning their backs on RVers. We regularly stay at KOAs and find them very affordable and very predictable of what you will have for amenities and sites. We just stayed at a KOA Holiday in NC with close to 150 RV sites and expanding to 225 with very nice cabins intermingled throughout the property. Hundreds of KOAs across the country are expanding RV sites coupled with cabins. Bottom line. Let’s do some sort of due diligence before bashing.
Without looking at KOA’s business model it would be difficult to answer this question without solid proof. However, I have noticed that most of the campgrounds I have spent time in are increasing the number of Glamping sites. Why not ? If they have the room they are now catering to a new client. The client that doesn’t want to invest in an RV and a tow vehicle. Or maybe if they did they would have no place, other than an expensive storage facility to park their unit when not in use.
Not only KOA but most campgrounds are now catering to the people who want to experience the outdoor life with their families. They arrive in two or three little cars, stuffed with what they will need for the week and enjoy the amenities the campground offers.
With taxes, insurance, maintenance costs, and providing salaries to employees I’ll bet it’s very expensive to run a campground. If bringing in non-campers to stay in cabins or rental trailers, I guess that’s what they will have to do.
KOA is very rarely an option for those of us with less money than sense, so it doesn’t matter much to me what they do to make more money. I am peeved at feds and states which can’t be bothered expanding their park capacities for tent campers and RVers, even as the population explodes
I know lots of people who are not RVers, who occasionally, or maybe even just once in a lifetime, want to get out and camp. They do not want to buy tents and gear, they just want to have a getaway with minimal prep time. I’m glad there are ‘glamping’ operations that can cater to their wishes. Increasingly, state parks are adding on more affordable permanent tents for these folks to be able to get out into nature. This is good for the part of the population which hasn’t invested lots of money in RV gear.
KOA lost me 5 years ago when we had to pay $8 each for our grandchildren to swim in the pool for an hour. We weren’t even swimming, after that we “black listed” KOA. We “ black list” restaurants where the food or service is bad and never return. Lol
That’s the way to let businesses know how you feel about the service you get.
Unless there is some type of legislation or regulation to change the rules, businesses in a capitalist economic environment will almost always look for new or different ways to use their resources to maximize their profits. For campgrounds, if they can get more money per square foot from glamping, and possibly fewer problems from a seemingly growing number of disrespectful RVers who trash their property or disturb other campers, then that’s very likely a good business move for them. There are also a seemingly growing number of would-be campers who don’t want the headaches of owning (and maintaining) their own, often low-quality RV, so it would seem that the glamping business is going to continue to outpace the basic RV site business for the foreseeable future.
I think what’s really going to damage RVing is the 1-2 punch of lack of spaces *and* the ever rising cost of sites. Sure, you have Nat. & State Park sites, when you can get into one, but with many RV parks costing as much as a decent hotel… well, you can see where that’s going to take us.
Spot on article. We’re heading to Royal Gorge KOA next week to break-in our new 5er and to give other campers a laugh at me backing in the 5th wheel. We all do that when a towed shows up. We stayed here 5 years ago at about $25 per night. We now pay $70 per night Friday through Monday. New owners just as the new owners of the Steamboat Springs KOA have had high end cabins like this article talks about constructed.
Chuck,
Your point is?
“Glamping” is Capitalism at it’s BEST!
By your own admission these “Glamping” parks are already booked full for the season.
Times change, people change along with their wants and desires. A Douglas DC3 can still fly and get you there but why would you fly in a DC3 when I can take a Boeing 737 and get 3 times as fast and in far better COMFORT?
The answer is a simple you would not!
It’s that COMFORT thing that makes “Glamping” so attractive to so many people. It may not be your thing and it certainly is not my thing but somehow I do not think RV park owners give a rat’s patutty about us old farts. We are NOT the modern camping market these RV park owners wish to serve and I cannot blame them.
RV park owners have real estate for rent and they are whores just like everyone else. These owner’s want the best monetary return they can get for that spot of real estate each and everyday they are In Season.
Will it last forever? NO!
We used to stay a month at a Texas state park north of Fort Worth. We are full timers returning to Texas for the annual doctor and dentist checkups and to visit family. The state park does not have full hookups and the eleven host sites were always occupied by the same people who did very little park work, were not friendly, and kept their host sites full of junk, cars, kids, and bikes. For the past two years we’ve chosen a KOA Journey campground north of Fort Worth owned by an RV dealership. It is pricey but we have a full hookup, a large pull through site with grass, a concrete pad. There is a free pool, a small playground, an outdoor gathering area with grills and a fireplace. The dealership appears to use the campground as a staging area for RV sales and storage but it is very neat and tidy. KOA is never our first choice but we’ve learned over the years that many times it is quite simply the better choice. Not always, not even half of the time, but enough to make it worth it.
How is KOA abandoning RVers? Their business and if you don’t like it, move on. A lot of us want to relive the past and it’s okay but don’t expect any of it to come back. You get what you pay for. Yes, costs are high for many but that’s the price we all have to pay to play.
And there are luxury hotels, golf resorts, etc. If KOA goes upscale, so be it. The Free Market will create new low cost places to take its place. Nothing to see here folks…move on.
Uh, no, the market won’t create more affordable campgrounds. Most of the proposed new campgrounds are being rejected by towns/counties due to objections from neighbors.
Is glamping bad for “us”? The analogy of junk food seems to imply as much. In a country largely free to make choices, I think that businesses should be free to explore new markets and for consumers to try them. And it’s not like there won’t be significant capital costs to create these high end experiences. So, any business is taking a pretty big risk if the idea of glamping doesn’t pan out in the long run. There are over 500 KOA campgrounds. Is this really as big a problem as the piece seems to indicate?
We’ve been staying in KOAs for probably a good 15 years, if not longer – in tents, the original rustic cabins, the deluxe cabins, 2 popups, and now a small TT. They are our go-to for overnight stops, or transition nights, handy for servicing our tanks. Sometimes, they’re even our destination.(We mostly dry camp in public CGs.)
The deluxe cabins have been wonderful for a friend and me to take a getaway trip when I didn’t want to tow the trailer. It is great to have options for some of our group events – members who don’t have a camper or fly in stay in whatever cabins, etc. a venue (private campground, state park, and so on) may have. I know families who meet up and have people who don’t or no longer camp, or again, fly, so they don’t have an RV.
To say a campground should not have cabins, etc. is at least as elitist as saying no RVs older than X# years.
I’m an old man now, but I prefer to live in the present world with my spouse, children, grandchildren great grandchildren and, oh yes, cancer than to pine for the world I inhabited fifty years ago when I would pull down a gravel side road or across an open field to park for the night in my car or truck for free and occasionally cop a shower at a public campground.
The key word in Chuck’s editorial is “affordable.” If there weren’t enough people who think these glamp-grounds are affordable, they wouldn’t be increasing in number. If you truly can’t afford your RV lifestyle as you wish, change your wishes to meet your means. If you don’t like the activities of the campers around you, go where they are not. Truly nothing in life is promised, but, I think, if you look around you’ll find what you need.
Exactly! I love how people who drive these ridiculous monsters see themselves as rugged individualists who worship the free market, but then suddenly become rabid socialists when the amount to park is suddenly higher than what they paid ten years ago.
It is all part of the social reengineering of the rv population. there are KOAs that cater to the rving customers but they are in the lesser populated areas. the bulk on the popular highway routes are after the top dollar not the rver who for twenty years prior supported the KOA with their regular stays. i had two campgrounds with one non koa laugh at me at their pricing rising in two years when their pricing scheme resulted in a decision to bypass their use in the future. they are in-fact socially reengineering the type of clients and rigs they prefer. they are looking to manage less rv sites and people shortening their stays so they can also carry less staff during the slow days during the week. time will tell how this all plays out. in the meantime adjustments are made. today let a campground I used for 24 years know it is clear my business is no longer welcomed and they could care less. best of luck for the long haul for these campgrounds who forget their loyal customers.
Simple economics. Nuff said.
We have discovered that many KOAs are not big rig (42′ 5th wheel) friendly as they were mostly built back when RVs were smaller on average.
It is sad to see how it’s all changing. We liked KOA “back when” – it worked well for us when we had all the grandkids, as they didn’t all fit in our RV and we could rent a “basic Kabin” next to us for them and my son and we could all camp together for the week. I didn’t mind the cost, as it was reasonable then, but there is no way we could do that now. Sad, my youngest generation of grandkids and us won’t be able to have that opportunity now. It’s getting to be “camping” will now be one more thing for the “rich folks”. ;-(
My husband and I began camping years ago without young daughter as a way to be able to take a vacation without having to take out a loan or put reservations on credit cards. We were broke. We tent camped then purchased two small fixer upper campers that served us well for many years. But like everything else in this world, we began noticing the prices at many campgrounds, including KOA increasing. We also noticed that for people like us, who primarily tent camp, it was becoming more difficult to find campgrounds outside of state or national parks who would allow tents. This year, we began checking prices around March and decided we would probably not be taking a vacation this year. The few campgrounds who would allow tents are now charging fees in line with what used to be considered premium camper sites. I do not have the budget to pay $75 for a tent site without water or electric…yes, this was an actual price for an unshaded site at a coastal campground. My husband has a saying…Joe and Jane Lunchpail are being priced out of everything anymore. I used to laugh when he would say this….but not now. One campground I called asked me what I would be camping in and when I replied a tent, I got a very condescending “we don’t allow tents at this resort” before she hung up on me. It’s sad but a fact of life for those of us who budget and save our pennies and live frugally so we can take a vacation each year so we will have a staycation again this year and enjoy our home, our deck, our grill and maybe next year we can unpack the tent and go camping….hope springs eternal
Thank you for your very personal and very real story, Dena. I’m sure many people can relate to it. Good luck on going camping next year.🤞 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Hi Chuck, just to clarify what is your definition of an affordable night at a campground. Does your affordable campground have any amenities full hookup, concrete or dirt pads, pool maybe. When you give me the answer please let me know what you think affordable should look like not just in dollars.
Since Chuck has not replied, I will. You bring up a valid point regarding desired amenities and the associated definition of ‘affordable’.
For me, dry camping on a gravel pad works much of the time. $25. If electric is included, and I can get water, $30. I use almost no electricity, but like to top-off my ‘fresh’ tanks. Full Hookups on a gravel pad warrant $40, in my book. I know there is lots of overhead to build a park, and maintenance. But, I don’t think each hookup adds much to the nightly cost of a visit. That changes for people with EVs, and the cost to charge them, or people with multiple ACs in hot states.
Dewayne, I suppose I think of affordable in relation to the majority of RVers. Not poor, not rich, those who are reasonable in their spending depending on their financial circumstances. If they want a concrete pad, then maybe they are willing to pay more, etc. Obviously, what is affordable to one person may not be to another. We’ll do a poll on this and see what our readers think. Look for it in the next week or so in one of our RVtravel.com newsletters. Thanks for inspiring the question.
I think this is trendy and will eventually dry up…then they’ll have to go back to what they do best, serving RVers and keeping a few cabins.
Ultimately, If a market exists, it will be serviced. In 20 years, hypothetically, KOA may have 90% cabins for glamping and 10% of the spaces for travelers with campers or RVs. If a market in a free market has an under serviced demo, that demo will ultimately get serviced better, but only if a PROFIT can be turned. In my hypothetical, someone will fill the space that KOA has chosen to remove from its business model if in fact the glamping cabin becomes KOA’s bread and butter.
Profit is not a dirty word. It is a necessity in order to participate in any business space, in any industry, serving any customer, a product.
KOAs have been a regular part of my RV experience for 20 years. Some better than others but we make our own notes and return when needed only to the ones we rate well, for our purposes. We have blacklisted a few. We look forward to others. They are a travel staple for the Proofs.
Today’s campers are not the simple “back to basics” kind that dominated back in KOA’s heyday of the 50s to 70s, seeking the restorative powers of unplugging from modern life, but are instead of the generations who have grown up expecting to be pampered as a deserved entitlement just for “being”. Not only is the kitchen sink thrown into the “primitive” lifestyle of camping these days, but so are widescreen tvs and 24/7 packaged entertainment via the internet. “Glamping” is simply the latest incarnation of the idea of “getting back to basics” as it has been reinterpreted in the 21st century. In time, it will probably morph into full size wall-screen, high resolution projections of long lost natural scenes, complete with surround sounds and smells, incorporated into luxury suites with full wet bars, hot tubs, delivery services, etc. for a mere $2,000/night… “Getting away from it all” has been replaced by “pretending to get away from it all”…
well said.
Like wise
There is some of us that appreciate camping, having a campfire, looking at the stars no matter we’re at. Don’t get any that.
RVing has gone the way of ocean cruises. Cruise ships are now floating amusement parks, so it’s not surprising that RV campgrounds are going in the same direction.
We must say for the past 23 years of RVing for us…we have avoided KOA as much as possible. They are 90% of the time been more expensive than others. Probably because they ALWAYS have so many amenities. Lots of kid stuff that attracts families. Other RV Places have it but not to the extent of KOA. We always try to stay at the local Mom & Pop RV places. Unfortunately they are disappearing too quickly.
Our way of RVing is to explore the area not the RV park entertainment & perks. When we travel our beautiful Country we do stay at RV Parks. When we RV we Boondock 90% of the time and enjoy Nature’s entertainment.
I read the Woodall’s newsletter. Several times a week there is a story about a proposed campground that is not approved because the locals fear more traffic, noise and in at least one case campfire smoke. The owners of the proposed facilities apparently lack the ability to address these issues. So the local planning board or commission rejects the application and the campground idea ends there. Developers and consultants as well as owners need to acknowledge these issues and address them in reasonable ways or no new campgrounds will ever get built.
Although I am a member (what was I thinking?), I seldom if ever book into a KOA unless there is absolutely no where else to park my 34-foot class-A. Too many amenities I don’t use, but am forced to pay the nightly fee for. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again … KOA, why not have tiered pricing, like you do for full hook-ups v.s. electric and water only? Just issue arm bands to those who want to buy-in to the amenities.
Lots of good comments. Having been in the resort business, hotel, cabins, restaurant, trailer park, gas station, small cabins, large cabins, for 43 years. 640 acres of private land Surrounded by 1 million acres of federal. Population 86 except on holiday weekends.
We’re now in out 3rd year full time on the road (@80 yrs)
We’ve learned a lot over the years. Today’s RVers are about the same as those we saw 45 years ago. When they come in to the restaurant after closing on July 4th in shorts & flip-flops after 6″ of snow & 30 deg temps. They still need a fire in the fireplace & hot food. Yes it’s true, there are some crazy people out there, & some smart business owners.
But rule #1?
“The business of business is staying in business.”
Beyond that, if your neighbors aren’t who or where you like in your RV, we/you can move.
What I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is…. Do the RV manufactures care that there’s less spaces for their products to be used? At this pace, will more of Elkhart Indiana will be facing unemployment?
I believe RV manufacturers do not or will not invest in creating campgrounds because it is a major investment. Here in Southeast Wi, there is land available zoned commercial/agricultural but mention a campground you have a better chance at a dogfight let alone asking town fathers for a variance is next to impossible. We do have a great state owned recreational area called Bong Recreational located in Kenosha County. I guess it’s where located. Personally myself my wife and I found a campground in Eureka Wi. Family owned no frills, great fishing,Only thing I can complain about is the best campgrounds here in this are always booked, yours in camping, Ray and Joy
Good lord… OK, reality check: what’s more “glamorous” — a yurt or a $200K RV? Plus, you acknowledge that the magical market is just responding to demand, but then wonder why the cost for parking your behemoth is increasing and you’re somehow now a victim? C’mon! Admit this is really just a rant against those “liberal elites” who can afford $200 for a night in a cabin, but not a $200K RV. If you can’t afford to park your vehicle, maybe you just can’t afford it. Grow up.
While building RV pads is NOT cheap, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than any cabin. And cabin maintenance (daily laundry and cleaning) is way higher than just an RV site. I don’t see how this is “more economical” for them. I’d be very curious to see the actual profit margins on both types. Also, many campgrounds (Jellystone is another big brand) have both. And guess who that serves: RVers with friends/family who don’t have RVs. A mix is what is really best for everyone.
Glamping is crazy. Renting a little cabin/tent/yurt/whatever at a campground is more expensive than renting an entire house at a beach, or condo in the mountains for a week. I can see the financial justification if you can only get away for a weekend and can’t afford to buy/build a weekend cabin, but we certainly never wished to go to a campground for a weekend. Even now, only if my in-laws are traveling with us do we have any wish for a campground to also have cabins.