RV association

Same thing in the midwest. It costs big bucks to build a campground correctly, roads, water and electric lines, sewer/septic system, bathroom/shower buildings, pool, office, playground etc. Then there's the cost of hiring a staff to maintain it all. It takes a loooong time to recoop your investment.

Yeah, it's not like those campgrounds have any way to make money when the camping boom-and-bust goes bust. Not enough people go camping there isn't enough money coming in to keep them going. It's certainly happened in the past.

If it is in or near a major city, the land necessary will be insanely expensive. Zoning will be challenge. Impact fees can run into the six figures. Public opposition will be fierce. Nobody wants a trailer park (and that is how the public views RV parks) in their back yard.
Construction costs are high to begin with, and building commercial building to current ADA, Safety and environmental codes make those construction costs much higher than the residential costs people are more familiar with.
RV park construction usually cannot be financed. Banks view such construction as highly speculative and unlike many commercial construction projects if the project fails there is no fallback usage for the facility. When the Southern Prussian cuisine restaurant fails, there is somebody who wants to rent the building for their Fire Grilled Grasshopper pizza concept. RV parks are pretty much only good as RV parks or to be used as raw ground for development.
The movie "Field of Dreams" had it wrong. If you build it, they will not necessarily come. You will need to advertise and build the business over time. During this time, the investor will not be making money and likely will be running at a loss. Deep pockets are required to build parks.
While RV Parks are profitable, especially for an owner/operator, they are not slam dunk cash cows. They can struggle. If overbuilt, they can lose money. If they are under built, they can quickly become unpopular. Basically, there is high costs, high risks and relatively modest rewards. These are but a few of the reasons that more parks are not being built.

Buddy of mine decided to build a new CG....2 1/2 yrs later finally got to open his doors for business.
Purchased the land, cleared it, got the permitting, installed the utilities (50A FHU), remodeled the old building into office, laundry room, bathhouse and gym with gift shop) and a large covered area with stage for bands/shows.
50 sites 30'x70'

Opened Oct 2008........yep 2008 just when economy was going bust

CGs are a major investment and tough to recoup expenses especially in a 'niche' business setting

Plus, many will overnight at the Walmart down the street to save a couple dollars if they're just passing through the area.

Truthfully, any potential RV park owner that is worried about people staying at the Walmart is worrying about the wrong thing. Those Wally dockers are not now, or ever going to be, a customer for that RV park. They are no more of a threat to that park's business than a Chuck E Cheese is a threat to a 5 star restaurant. Totally different customers.
The big hurdles to building a park are financial and regulatory. It takes a special person (sometimes I think an idiotic one) to pump out 100s of thousands of dollars while pounding their heads against the wall that is government all to build a business the public thinks is undesirable. This is why the resale market for RV parks is exceptionally strong and the new build business is essentially non existent.

“little to nothing is being done to build more campgrounds“

If building new parks was reasonably profitable, new parks would be built.

Elementary my dear Watson, elementary. Why don’t you invest in new RV parks, Bob?

I had a chance to buy a small general store in a rural area that had some land around it and had about a dozen camp sites on it. I don't even remember the price now. I was very interested until I sat down and started figuring out how much that it would cost to upgrade it. I remember that it only had 15A service and water. Not sure about sewer. The owner was getting on in age and even offered to owner finance it. I didn't do it. I drove by that location just recently. The store is now closed and the land around it is reverting back to forest. It was going to take some deep pockets to upgrade that property with either a long term or no return on investment. I'm glad that I passed.

Lwiddis wrote:
“little to nothing is being done to build more campgrounds“

If building new parks was reasonably profitable, new parks would be built.

Elementary my dear Watson, elementary. Why don’t you invest in new RV parks, Bob?

If it cost a nickel to go around the world I would not have enough money to get out of town....LOL..

years back I stayed at a nice park to the west of Atlanta just off 20 near an amusement park. a few years later I did a google search to find it and noticed that the land is now in apartments/condos. obviously more profit there.
bumpy