Fighting for campsites 6 months in advance!
All- Is it me or is booking campsites getting harder and harder? I have spent the last couple weeks trying to book a week in July at Ludington SP in Michigan and it was darn near impossible. Ther...
Forum Discussion
RV sales are doing very well. People that have RV's will occasionally use them. Holidays and summer are the busiest times for vacations.
We grew up camping, but mainly state parks. My wife and I started camping as a family 12 years ago. I remember our first trip was in my dad's older Class C motorhome. We left Christmas evening and drove to Florida without reservations and stayed for a week at Tropical Palms RV in Kissimmee, FL (just outside Disney) for 10 days. 7 years ago we called a week before leaving for Florida and found a spot near Anna Maria Island in February.
For the last 2 years we haven't been able to book a spot at our campground in Anna Maria. They give first dibs to the people who stayed the previous year. We had a new born son and didn't go February of 2015. We called at the end of February 2015 to reserve for 2016 and were told that the current tenants had all requested sites for 2016 AND there was a waitlist of 100 people for 75 or so sites. They weren't accepting anyone else on the waitlist at that time. Same thing happened in Feb 2016 for the Feb 17 dates. Same thing last year for Feb 18 sites.
Economy is doing well, fuel costs are relatively low. Land values are increasing and homes are selling well. We are losing open campground space to new housing tracts. The tide will turn again in a couple years and we will find ourselves able to get more sites with less hassle. It ebbs and flows over the years, but I think that more campgrounds close every year than new ones open.
We grew up camping, but mainly state parks. My wife and I started camping as a family 12 years ago. I remember our first trip was in my dad's older Class C motorhome. We left Christmas evening and drove to Florida without reservations and stayed for a week at Tropical Palms RV in Kissimmee, FL (just outside Disney) for 10 days. 7 years ago we called a week before leaving for Florida and found a spot near Anna Maria Island in February.
For the last 2 years we haven't been able to book a spot at our campground in Anna Maria. They give first dibs to the people who stayed the previous year. We had a new born son and didn't go February of 2015. We called at the end of February 2015 to reserve for 2016 and were told that the current tenants had all requested sites for 2016 AND there was a waitlist of 100 people for 75 or so sites. They weren't accepting anyone else on the waitlist at that time. Same thing happened in Feb 2016 for the Feb 17 dates. Same thing last year for Feb 18 sites.
Economy is doing well, fuel costs are relatively low. Land values are increasing and homes are selling well. We are losing open campground space to new housing tracts. The tide will turn again in a couple years and we will find ourselves able to get more sites with less hassle. It ebbs and flows over the years, but I think that more campgrounds close every year than new ones open.
