Kampgrounds of America (KOA) owners set performance records during 2020’s summer and fall months, the company reported, overcoming last spring’s COVID-19 closures.
The campground provider finished last year nearly on par with 2019, which KOA stated was a record year for the 59-year-old company.
“When the stay-at-home orders were first implemented in March, we began advocacy work at the federal, state and provincial levels to ensure our campgrounds could be deemed essential and remain open,” KOA President and CEO Toby O’Rourke said. “This work continued throughout the year as we first lobbied for long-term business to remain and then for short-term business to resume.”
In 2020’s first two months, KOA registration revenues were up 10.5 percent over 2019 totals. However, COVID-19 hit the U.S. and Canada in mid-March, sparking stay-at-home orders and additional restrictions. From March 16 to May 17, KOA found itself more than 43 percent under its previous year’s performance.
In effort to help its 522 campgrounds in 2020’s early months, KOA issued 100 percent reimbursements to owners for reservation deposits and cancellation fees that were returned to campers in March and April. The move amounted to more than $3.1 million in direct aid to KOA campgrounds.
“It would be an understatement to say that KOA put their money where their mouth is over the past year,” Austin East KOA Holiday owner John Baker II said. “It is one thing for a franchisor to say they have your back, but KOA proved it time and again during 2020.”
KOA reported record campers flooding to its parks during mid-May to early September, referencing a summer “recovery period.” By Sept. 7, KOA reportedly made up most of its registration revenue deficit, setting new system performance records in June, July, August, September and October. Between early September and the end of December, registration revenues were up more than 25 percent.
“KOA campgrounds provided safe places for responsible recreation and a way to relax and recharge,” O’Rourke said. “The perfect antidote for stress is the outdoors, and KOAs delivered on that prescription all across the U.S. and Canada.”
O’Rourke noted the KOA website – KOA.com – saw its highest traffic during last summer, surpassing $1 million in daily reservation revenue for the first time June 1.
“That daily record performance became the norm for the rest of 2020 as campers rebooked canceled trips and took advantage of flexible schedules at work and at school,” O’Rourke said. “By the end of 2020, the majority of KOA campgrounds were at par or above their record 2019 revenue performance.”
KOA stated its 2020 momentum carried over into 2021, when website consumer traffic increased 25.6 percent during January and February. Nearly 21 percent of those responses came from new users, KOA stated. Reservations remain strong this year with a reported 60 percent increase in camping reservations made the first two months this year.
The company noted much of its 2020 success was driven by its brand impact on “new, inexperienced campers” across North America. First-time campers represented 26 percent of all camping households last year, KOA stated.
The 2020 KOA internal market analysis survey showed more than 50 percent of new KOA campers said that it was the company’s facilities, services and amenities, plus its “great reputation,” that swayed their decision to stay at a KOA park. Nearly half of all surveyed campers said they would travel more than 25 miles to stay at a KOA campground, the company stated.
“We are headed into 2021 with renewed spirit, strength and confidence in the role of our business in our communities, and the value we bring to our campers,” O’Rourke said.
KOA’s 2020 Annual Report can be viewed here.
