This is a collaborative post.
We recognize that the terms “revenue management” conjure up a tangle of financial data that generally lands in the lap of the park’s accountant when spoken aloud. Don’t switch off! Because, in practice, revenue management is essential for campsites and may make a big difference in their profitability. So, let’s break down what revenue management is by breaking it down into two basic rules:
First and foremost, keep track of your earnings. Second, do everything you can to maximize that sum by selling the appropriate campground to the right guest at the proper time.
Revenue management is the idea that certain reservations are better for your business than others, even though it’s sometimes mistaken with dynamic pricing (read more about that here).
This mentality enables park owners and administrators to optimize incoming income by making informed decisions based on data rather than preconceptions. While this notion may be used to much more than individual methods or money from reservations, those are the areas where we will concentrate our efforts.
4 Reasons Why Parks Should Think About Revenue
Inventory in the hotel business is perishable
The amount of nights available for booking is your campground’s most valuable asset. This number is perishable, which means that if you don’t sell a site night, you won’t be able to recoup your investment. The more unbooked site nights you have, the more waste you’re producing in what should be your primary source of revenue.
In general, variable expenses are modest
While campsites have substantial fixed expenses (insurance, mortgages, and property taxes), renting a tent or RV site has comparatively low prices compared to other housing types. Unlike hotels, which must pay for their structures, routine maintenance, expensive HVAC systems, and big cleaning crews, many parks charge for a short-term RV or tent rental utility expenses.
Said, rather than having a site vacant and hoping for a complete price booking, campground managers are more likely to pay their expenditures and make a profit by giving a discount to fill it confidently.
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Not all Reservations are created equal
Consider the frequent practice of requiring a three-night minimum stay during a holiday weekend. If the three-night visit was scheduled six months in advance, it might have prevented a different guest from staying for a week or longer. This campsite wasted 4+ days of a reservation since the park didn’t sell the seat to the correct visitor at the right time.
Auxiliary revenue can be a lifesaver
Do you have any other revenue-generating options other than reservations? If that’s the case, how much do your visitors spend when they’re on your property? Keep a close eye on this and search for ways to stimulate ancillary purchases like firewood or ice cream.
While you may not be able to recuperate all of your expenditures on your booked sites, you may be able to reclaim a significant portion of your costs on the different things your visitors purchase, making it beneficial to fill specific areas at lower pricing.
With Campspot, you can take advantage of growth opportunities
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all strategy for managing campsite revenue. Your park has its own set of benefits and difficulties to discover. Your revenue management approach is like a sliding scale that improves as you put more work into it. As a result, if you psychologically prioritize revenue management and use the resources at your disposal, you’ll be off to a good start.
Dynamic pricing, site locking, automated grid optimization, custom rules for online booking, quick package and promo code development, changeable minimum night stays, heat map and forecast reporting, and much more are all included in our Campspot software.
