CalARVC Asking for Member Support on Tourism

The California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) will once again be partnering with other sectors of the tourism industry to create awareness of the enormous impact tourism has in California.

According to this week’s edition of CalARVC’s “Wednesday Morning Coffee Talk & Updates,” CalARVC members are being encouraged to gather on the afternoon of Feb. 22 beginning with lunch with CalARVC’s lobbyists. Next, members will join Visit California for a Policy Forum, providing legislative and policy updates on travel issues.

Then CalARVC members are encouraged to visit their legislators. This is their chance to showcase their business and industry. The day will conclude with a Legislative Reception and Premier of “Dreamland,” an inspirational new film chronicling a day in the life of innovative “True Californians.” This documentary will air on PBS stations throughout the U.S. and key international markets.

On other CalARVC news, the board is working on plans for the 2013 convention. Previously, the board decided to not hold a convention this year, opting to support ARVC’s annual Outdoor and Hospitality Conference slated for Nov. 28-30 in Las vegas.

Later this spring, CalARVC will hold its annual business meeting in conjunction with a CalARVC board meeting.

 

 

OutdoorAfro Founder’s Camping Trip a Success

OutdoorAfro.com founder Rue Mapp, her three children and nephew took their first RV trip Aug. 12-14 at the Ponderosa RV Resort in Northern California.

What a trip for the 39-year-old community servant, who’s raising awareness of the beauty of the outdoors to the nation’s African-Americans via her website and outdoor activities promoted on it.

Promoting the outdoors to African-Americans has become her life goal, and she’s working hand-in-hand with the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) to make this happen. The August trip was the first of four she plans to showcase camping in California in each of the four seasons and to show that RVing can be a year-round experience.

“My kids have been camping since the womb but this is the first time we ever tried RV camping and stayed in an RV park,” she told Woodall’s Campground Management.

Enter American River Sales in Auburn, which donated a tear-drop trailer rental for the weekend. Mapp took her family gold panning, visited the local Gold Discovery Museum and even took her teenage son Seth river rafting. Throughout the weekend, she Tweeted, uploaded photos to Facebook and blogged about the family’s experiences. All told, her social media contacts exceed 7,000 each month and is growing.

Mapp found at Ponderosa RV Resort “an instant sense of community among fellow campers, a lot of people enjoying this balance between their creature comforts and exploring nature.”

In essence, this is precisely what she is trying to show to the nation’s black community, which underuses outdoor recreation sites like RV parks and campgrounds. She was not surprised that she and her family were the only black campers at Ponderosa all weekend, but she discovered a pleasant surprise during her weekend.

http://www.outdoorafro.com/2011/08/a-first-time-rv-experience/

 

CrossRoads to Donate SlingShot to CalARVC

CalARVC Executive Director Debbie Sipe and CrossRoads RV President Mark Lucas announced the promotion recently during the association’s annual convention and tradeshow in Reno, Nev.

“I can’t tell you how excited we are to have a partnership with CrossRoads RV,” Sipe said. “They understand the importance of promoting RV and camping options in California. Our members and the camping public will benefit from this partnership for years to come.”

Lucas said he, too, is excited about the promotion. “The California State Fair is a great opportunity to showcase the family friendly activities available throughout the state and we’re thrilled to have our Slingshot as the grand prize,” he said “Just as camping is accessible to all types of families, this trailer, the lightest in the industry, can be towed by all types of vehicles. There is no need for a special heavy-duty truck because fuel-efficient minivans, small SUVs and crossovers are the perfect tow vehicle for this unit.”

The Slingshot travel trailer to be awarded at the California State Fair will be provided by Happy Daze RV’s in Sacramento. “We think this is a great opportunity. RVing is about spending time with family. It’s also a great way to see California,” said Ronnie Radigan, general sales manager for Happy Daze RV’s.

The CrossRoads Slingshot and other RVs will be on display along with other camping equipment July 24-27  at the California State Fair at Cal Expo in Sacramento.

Campgrounds, RV parks and resorts and travel destinations will also be featured at the fair, which will include a 2,500-square-foot display that shows people how they can camp in different parts of the state. “We’ll have hands on activities, such as geocaching, demonstrations on how to set up a tent and use a Coleman stove as well as classic outdoor games, such as sack races and water balloon tosses,” Sipe said.

Monthly drawings are already being held to determine the semifinalists who will compete for the Slingshot travel travel in the drawing . Other prizes, including free camping opportunities and camping equipment, will also be awarded to contest participants.

For a list of campgrounds and RV parks that are participating in the RVing Rewards! Scratcher Program as well as other rules and restrictions governing this promotion, please visit www.Camp-California.com.

California RV Park Occupancy Down 0.6% in ’09

The occupancy at private RV parks and campgrounds in California in 2009 was 57.8% or down 0.6% from 2008, according to a study by the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC).

The 2009 occupancy rate was down 2.7% from 2007 and down 4.9% from 2006, making 2009 the lowest occupancy for the past 10 years, CalARVC noted in its current Wednesday Morning Coffee Talk & Updates e-newsletter.

Occupancy was highest in 2005 at 63.8%, followed by 2001 at 63.5%. Statewide occupancy at 57.8% is 0.6% less than the average for the past 20 years. This slip in occupancy is widely attributed to continued high fuel prices and a slumped economy that resulted in many job losses and home foreclosures.

Occupancy decreased in eight regions, with San Francisco showing a 15.4% decline. Monthly regional averages vary in accuracy depending upon which CalARVC members respond in any month resulting in a margin of error of plus or minus two to five percentage points. The error of margin for the statewide averages is one to two percentage points.

Average statewide occupancy increased over last year in six months, and decreased six months resulting in an overall decrease of approximately a half percentage point.

Thor’s Shane Ott to Keynote Campground Event

Shane Ott, director of campground relations for Thor Industries Inc., has been confirmed as a keynote speaker for the ReV Up in Reno Western Region Convention and Trade Show April 19-21 in Reno, Nev. The event will be held in John Ascuaga’s Nugget Resort and Casino.

The second annual event is sponsored by the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) and other western state campground associations.

Prior to joining Thor this past year, Ott was the president and COO of Kampgrounds of America Inc.

Ott’s wide breath of experience in both the campground and RV industries affords him a unique perspective on the past, present and future of RV Parks and campgrounds in the West.

He will address current trends in the RV industry and how these will drive business to – or away from – RV parks and campgrounds.

RPTIA: Park Models Not Full-Time Residences

Park operators must not allow their recreational park trailers or ”park models” to be used as full-time residences. And they should also beware of the low-cost FEMA trailers, many of which have damage and mold problems in addition to failing to comply with established building codes.

Those were the two primary warnings issued Jan. 13 by Bill Garpow, executive director of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA), during CalARVC’s Education Day at Newport Dunes Waterfront RV Resort and Marina.

While Garpow had previously warned park operators not to allow their guests to use park trailers as full-time residences, he said the reminder is needed because the economic downturn has prompted some people who have lost their homes to relocate to campgrounds and RV parks — at least temporarily.

”The problem with it is that, in many cases, the local unit of government is aware of the hardship that is going on with regard to families and foreclosures and, as such, they may be inclined to ignore the improper use of a campground as a place of residence,” Garpow said.

Trouble is, when guests are allowed to establish a residence within a park, it can be very difficult to remove them. ”You’re setting yourself up to become a trailer camp if you allow people to live full-time at your park,” Garpow said.

Using RV or park model sites for full-time residents can also reduce the value of the park, while making it less appealing to transient RVers or destination campers looking for a true recreational vacation experience, Garpow said.

While long-term renters seeking a form of low-cost housing provide income stability, they don’t mix with transient travelers or participants in the RV lifestyle, Garpow said. Sometimes, he added, long-term renters can ”develop an attitude” toward visitors who are just passing through. This changes the very nature of the park and the true RV customers may seek another location.

”The only way I would even consider allowing full-time residency within a park would be if you worked with your city or county and had them pass an emergency housing ordinance that allowed you to use your park for this purpose,” Garpow said. ”But even then it should only be for a limited amount of time so that the local unit of government could also step in and help you move those people out after the housing emergency was over. I would also try to separate the two types of tenants, as they just don’t mix well.”

CalARVC Site Features GuestRated Review Functions

The California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) has added the GuestRated review function to Camp-California.com, which gives consumers the ability to rate their camping experience, according to a news release.

“Consumers can now rate private campgrounds and RV parks throughout California using a survey tool that coverts their responses to letter grades,” said Debbie Sipe, executive director of the Auburn-based CalARVC, which manages Camp-California.com.

Private parks can be rated on their service quality, property condition, campsites and restrooms. “Overall grades are assigned to each park that has been surveyed,” Sipe said, adding that the number of surveys completed for each park is also displayed.

Sipe said the rating system, developed by Murrieta, Calif.-based GuestRated.com, was added to Camp-California.com this summer in response to consumer demand for an independent rating system for private parks throughout the Golden State.

“The letter grade system is a powerful marketing tool for parks with high scores since Camp-California also offers consumers the ability to sort parks by their ratings,” Sipe said. “Of course, it also provides an incentive for parks with lower grades to address areas of consumer concern if they want to remain competitive with their peers in the industry.”

Consumers can review campgrounds and RV parks they have visited by clicking on the “reviews” tab, which appears at the top of the screen after they click to see detailed information about the private park of interest to them. The rating form provided by GuestRated.com will then appear on the screen.

Sipe said more than 3,200 surveys have been completed for roughly half of the campgrounds and RV parks listed on Camp-California.com and those numbers will increase significantly as word spreads about the new ratings function.

The ratings capability was one of several upgrades made to Camp-California.com this summer by Orange, Calif.-based Friend Communications Inc., which manages and hosts for CalARVC.

Other improvements include the creation of subdomains on the site, which make it possible for consumers to bookmark park listings for future reference. The computer coding in URLs throughout the site has also been replaced with recognizable keywords to make it easier for consumers to find parks listed on Camp-California.com when they conduct Google searches or searches with other Internet search engines.

Parks listed on Camp-California.com can also be sorted by location and by the amenities or recreational activities they provide. They can also be listed alphabetically or by their ratings.

“We are continually fine tuning Camp-California.com to make it more user friendly and to give consumers the information they need as quickly as possible,” Sipe said.

For additional commentary, statistics and sources on the latest camping trends in campgrounds, RV parks and resorts in California or for leads on parks in your news coverage area, contact  Sipe at (530) 885-1624 or (530) 906-4592 (cell).

Western Campground Conference Set for April 19-21

Rev Up in Reno, an event that brought together some 200 campgrounds owners and operators from several western states in the spring, will  return April 19-21, 2010, at John Ascuaga’s Nugget hotel and casino in Reno, Nev.

The California Associaiton of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) was the lead organizer for the first-time effort and announced the dates this week.

“The hotel is great and the energy among 200 delegates from across the Western States is an atmosphere not to be missed,” CalARVC stated in its current Coffee Talk & Updates e-newsletter. 

More details will follow.

CalARVC Opposes California State Park Closings

Closing California’s state parks to help balance the financially strapped state’s budget would do little to help the $24 billion shortfall and could harm the privately owned RV parks and campgrounds in the Golden State.

So says the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC) which is lobbying state legislators to find a compromise to the closures, according to Debbie Sipe, CalARVC executive director.

CalARVC board members met late last week and discussed the state’s financial crisis. While it took no formal vote on the budget crisis, the sentiment was “we are opposed to the closures,” she said.

“Even though it could be a boom to many of our members, we are worried about the potential backlash” to the 370 CalARVC member parks, she said.

If state parks are closed, the public might wrongly assume that private parks are closed too, she said.

And from a service point of view, “We don’t think we could absorb the full influx of campers out there,” she added.

CalARVC member parks offer approximately 44,000 campsites, but that would fall short of the camping demand if most of the state’s 279 state parks and campgrounds were closed, she said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest proposal to tackle the state’s $24.3 billion shortfall includes the elimination of all general fund contributions to California’s 279 parks within two years.

It is a nightmare scenario that would mean the public could be barred from visiting 223 parks – that’s 80% of the state-owned parks, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“That’s just horrendous,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation. “It could impact these environmental and cultural resources for decades and decades.”

The proposal already has been subject to intense lobbying in the Legislature. Between now and July 1, when the fiscal year starts, the state parks would be asked to cut $70 million of the $150 million the park system receives from the state’s general fund in fiscal year 2009-10. The remainder would be cut out in the 2010-11 budget.

Eliminating state contributions, most of which go toward paying staff, would mean maintenance workers, office technicians, park superintendents, landscapers, rangers, environmental scientists, administrative officers and bookkeepers would have to be laid off. Camping, boating and day use fees would also have to be raised, said Roy Stearns, the parks spokesman.

CalARVC members are working with the California Travel Industry Association in lobbying efforts to swing state legislators to some type of compromise that would keep parks open, at least part time, Sipe said.

Goldstein’s group is heading up the lobbying effort.

The lobbying effort already has brought out some 110 state park “advocates” to a budget hearing last week, Sipe noted. Sixty of them testified at the hearing.

In addition, 36,000 people have sent 100,000 letters and e-mails to the governor and state legislature in support of keeping parks open.

Lobbyists are asking the director of state parks to put together a task force to recommend a compromise, Sipe said.

“No matter what,” Sipe sid, “even if state parks stay open, they’ll get a good hatchet job on their budgets.”

The task force “needs to look at creative ways to keep state parks open,” she said, perhaps closing for a few days in mid-week and cutting back on winter hours.

“The pressure to get this done is very intense,” Sipe stressed, as the state has no budget past June 30 and begins to run out of money on that date.

Drastic cuts are necessary, the governor said, because of the slipping economy, declining revenues and a deficit that deepened after voters rejected five budget measures designed to help close the gap. Goldstein argued, however, that the savings derived from cutting the parks out of the budget would amount to 0.26% of the $24.3 billion budget gap.

“It’s a very, very tiny portion of the financial need, but the impacts would be draconian to say the least,” Goldstein said. “Not only is this bad for people who are relying on state parks more than they ever have for recreation and vacation, but it is also bad for the communities surrounding these parks.”

Stearns said 79.6 million people visited state parks last year. A huge number of reservations for campgrounds have already been made throughout the summer and into November, he said. Analysts estimate park visitors spend roughly $2.6 billion a year in and around the parks.

Goldstein said for every dollar spent, the state parks generate $2.35 in tax revenue from economic activity in the local communities surrounding the parks. That means the state could potentially see a reduction in revenue by closing the parks.

That’s not even counting the loss of day-use fees and the cost of patrolling the closed parks to make sure arsonists, vandals, transients, hunters and marijuana growers don’t move in, she said.

California Campgrounds Expand Facilities

The economy may be mired in recession, but that hasn’t stopped private campground owners in California – the nation’s leading market for RVs and camping – from investing in new campsites, cabins and other upgrades for the upcoming camping season, according to a report from the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC).

“Campground and RV park operators know that the recession is temporary that it behooves them to continue making improvements to their parks so that they can compete with other travel and tourism options,” said Debbie Sipe, executive director of the California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (CalARVC).

As a result, she said, many private park operators are investing in new facilities and amenities this year, which include everything from new campsites and cabins to hot tubs and swimming pools. For example:

• Auburn Gold Country RV Park,  Auburn: This property, which includes 66 RV sites, 20 tent sites and two cabins is getting a $300,000 facelift, which will include upgrading many of its campsites with 50-amp electrical and Wi-Fi service.
• Bakersfield Palms RV Park, Bakersfield: This park recently completed a $1 million expansion and plans to open a new 20-site section for overnight travelers in May. The new section has premium campsites that are 25 feet wide and 70 feet long. The new sites have 50-amp electrical pedestals as well as telephone, cable TV and Wi-Fi service. The existing section of the park has 112 sites.
• Campland on the Bay, San Diego: This RV resort is spending up to $50,000 this year on a skate park, which is expected to open before Memorial Day weekend. The park is also spending $100,000 on other infrastructure improvements, including a leash-free dog park.
• Far Horizons 49′er Village RV Resort, Plymouth: This 329-site park, which also has 13 park model rentals, is planning to spend about $200,000 in improvements this year, mostly involving the park’s swimming pool complex. 
• Flying Flags RV Resort,  Buellton: This RV resort, located near the Dutch-themed town of Solvang, has budgeted $550,000 for improvements this year, including three recreational-park trailer cabin rental units, a fitness center, electrical and sewer service upgrades, renovation of campsites, cable television system upgrades and new landscaping.
• Frandy Park Campground,  Kernville: This park, which has 18 campsites on the Kern River and 60 sites off the river, just installed new asphalt at the entrance to the park. The park is also making landscaping improvements and is installing a new dump tank. The total investment in improvements is expected to be close to $70,000. 
• Kamp Klamath RV Park and Campground,  Klamath: This 33-acre park, which is located in Big Foot country with one quarter mile of frontage along the Klamath River, plans to spend more than $30,000 in improvements this year, which will include construction of 26 new tent sites and three more RV sites. 
• Pismo Coast Village RV Resort,  Pismo Beach: This park is investing more than $700,000 in improvements this year, including the renovation of 51 campsites, which will be upgraded to 50-amp electrical service; the renovation of the swimming and wading pools, road paving and other electrical upgrades. The park is also planning to continue its improvement effort next year and develop another 20-acre site for RV storage.
• Premier RV Resorts,  Redding: This park, which has 84 RV sites, 12 tent sites and two yurts, is planning to do a 21-site expansion this year. Other improvements include a new hot tub and a fenced dog-run area. These improvements are expected to cost about $500,000.
• Rancho Los Coches RV Park,  Lakeside: This park has invested more than $30,000 in a variety of improvements this year, including renovations to its swimming pool and hot tub and new pool furniture. The park has also built a fitness room and made landscaping improvements with new flowers, shade trees and palm trees, including two Taiwanese King Kong Palms.
• San Francisco North / Petaluma KOA: This park is investing about $200,000 in improvements this year, which include finishing up a 4,000-square-foot dog park and remodeling the camp store. The park has also expanded its lodging with the purchase of six park model cabins last year. The park has 312 sites, including 34 cabins and a total of 10 park models.
• SunLand RV Resorts: This La Jolla-based chain, which has six parks in Riverside and San Diego counties, is upgrading its Wi-Fi system capabilities this year. SunLand’s parks include Golden Village Palms in Hemet, San Diego RV Resort in La Mesa, Escondido RV Resort in Escondido as well as three parks in El Cajon, including Oak Creek RV Resort, Circle RV Resort and Vacationer RV Resort

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