A list shared by CRR Hospitality COO Mike Harrison highlights 25 executives, operators, researchers, technology leaders, consultants and other voices helping shape outdoor hospitality in 2026.
Influence in outdoor hospitality is coming from more places than ever before.
Campground owners and association executives remain central to the industry’s direction, but they increasingly share that influence with researchers, technology founders, investors, consultants, developers, media professionals and others helping shape how the sector operates, grows and prepares for what comes next.
A recent LinkedIn post from Mike Harrison, chief operating officer of CRR Hospitality, offered one snapshot of that changing landscape.
Harrison said the idea was inspired by hospitality industry personality Scott Eddy, who had shared a similar exercise focused on the broader hospitality sector. Harrison adapted the concept specifically for outdoor hospitality, asking:
“Who are the top 25 hospitality thought leaders in 2026 based on their influence across AI, LinkedIn, media, and overall outdoor hospitality industry impact?”
He then shared the resulting ranking publicly on LinkedIn, inviting others in the industry to weigh in on who they would add, remove or rank differently.
The list placed Brian Searl, founder of Modern Campground and Insider Perks, first, followed by Kampgrounds of America President and CEO Toby O’Rourke and Harrison himself.
Harrison said the names largely reflected people he already sees making an impact across different areas of outdoor hospitality.
“It’s a lot of the folks that we know and love in the industry who are making a difference and continuously push and evolve the industry, but in a lot of different ways,” Harrison told Modern Campground.
He pointed to the variety of expertise represented, referencing Searl’s work in the digital space alongside O’Rourke, Cairn Consulting Group President Scott Bahr and Sage Outdoor Advisory’s Shari Heilala.
“We all have different roles,” Harrison said.
That may be the clearest takeaway from the ranking: influence within outdoor hospitality is no longer confined to a single kind of leadership.
The 25 Voices Shaping Outdoor Hospitality in 2026
The complete ranking shared by Harrison was:
1. Brian Searl — Modern Campground / Insider Perks
A prominent voice at the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, marketing and industry media, with a particular focus on how emerging technology will affect campground operations and the guest experience.
2. Toby O’Rourke — Kampgrounds of America
A leading executive voice whose influence extends across campground operations, consumer research, innovation and the broader direction of the North American camping sector.
3. Mike Harrison — CRR Hospitality
An operator and executive focused on experiential hospitality, technology, artificial intelligence, revenue, operations and the evolution of the outdoor hospitality business model.
4. David Basler — OHI
A longstanding industry leader whose work spans advocacy, education, strategy and the continued professionalization of outdoor hospitality.
5. Scott Bahr — Cairn Consulting Group
One of the industry’s most recognized voices in research, consumer behavior, data and the market forces affecting camping and outdoor recreation.
6. Shari Heilala, MAI — Sage Outdoor Advisory
A leading voice in outdoor hospitality valuation, feasibility, investment and development strategy.
7. Ruben Martinez — American Glamping Association
A central figure in the growth and professionalization of glamping and an advocate for its development as a distinct segment of the hospitality industry.
8. Cara Csizmadia — Canadian Camping & RV Association
An association leader whose work connects advocacy, education and industry development across Canada’s campground and RV sectors.
9. Matt Whitermore — Unhitched Management
An increasingly visible voice around campground investment, management, technology and the use of more sophisticated operating practices within outdoor hospitality.
10. Mychele Bisson — Bison Peak Ventures
(Links to consumer-facing brand, Wayhaven Resorts) An industry voice working across investment, technology, marketing and the continued evolution of outdoor hospitality businesses.
11. Jeff Hoffman — Outdoor Hospitality Industry Leader
A longtime outdoor hospitality professional whose experience and industry involvement have made him a familiar voice among campground owners and operators.
12. Sandy Ellingson — RV & Outdoor Hospitality Strategist
A strategist and industry advocate known for discussing the future of RVing, camping and outdoor hospitality.
13. Wendy Heineke — Hospitality Across America
A hospitality professional contributing to industry conversations around operations, leadership and the guest experience.
14. Jayne Cohen — Campground Consulting Group
A veteran campground consultant whose decades of experience span campground development, operations and owner education.
15. Scott Foos — Horizon Outdoor Hospitality
An experienced outdoor hospitality operator and consultant focused on management, strategy and improving property performance.
16. Zach Stoltenberg — LJA
A development and planning voice involved in the design and growth of outdoor hospitality projects.
17. Casey Cochran — Campspot
A recognizable technology industry voice whose work connects campground operators with software, reservations and the changing digital side of the guest journey.
18. Joe Duemig — App My Community
A technology leader focused on digital guest communication and helping campgrounds use mobile tools to improve engagement.
19. Kurtis Wilkins — RJourney
An operator helping shape conversations around campground management, portfolio growth and professional operations.
20. Robert Preston — Unhitched Management
An outdoor hospitality investor and operator with a growing voice around acquisitions, management and campground portfolio strategy.
21. Greg Emmert — Vireo Outdoor Hospitality Consulting
A consultant and industry commentator whose work focuses on operations, guest experience, marketing and the practical challenges facing campground owners.
22. Angele Miller — Creekside RnR Glamping
A glamping operator and entrepreneur contributing an owner-level perspective to the growth of experiential outdoor accommodations.
23. Tyler Duffy — CampLife
A technology executive helping influence how campgrounds approach reservations, property management and digital operations.
24. Travis Chambers — OutpostX
An entrepreneur bringing a design, branding and experiential-development perspective to the evolving outdoor hospitality sector.
25. Jeremy Johnson — Camp Kona Hills
An outdoor hospitality operator contributing to the industry’s growing conversation around distinctive campground experiences and destination development.
Influence now comes from many directions
The mix of names on Harrison’s list reflects how much the outdoor hospitality ecosystem has expanded.
Ownership and operations remain foundational. But technology companies now influence how guests discover properties, make reservations, communicate with staff and experience a campground before, during and after a stay.
Researchers and analysts influence decisions through data about consumer behavior, pricing, demand and development.
Consultants and advisors shape investment decisions, property design, operational strategy and feasibility.
Associations influence public policy, education, professional standards and the way the industry presents itself to government and the broader travel sector.
Media, podcasts and platforms such as LinkedIn have created another source of influence altogether, giving individual professionals the ability to introduce ideas and shape conversations across the industry in real time.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating that shift.
As operators explore AI-powered customer service, automation, marketing, revenue strategy and other applications, professionals who can translate emerging technology into practical outdoor hospitality use cases are becoming increasingly visible.
The result is an industry where two people can wield substantial influence for completely different reasons.
One may oversee a large portfolio of properties. Another may publish research used by operators across North America. A third may develop technology used by thousands of guests. Another may influence investment, legislation or the adoption of a new operating practice.
As Harrison put it, they all have different roles.
O’Rourke echoed that broader sentiment in her response to Harrison’s post, thanking him for sharing what she described as a “great list of thought leaders across outdoor hospitality” and recognizing the collective work being done to move the industry forward.
Measuring influence is complicated
There is no universally accepted way to rank influence in outdoor hospitality.
Property count matters. So does industry reach.
Research can create influence without a large social following. A strong LinkedIn presence can give another professional an audience that stretches well beyond the company they work for. Association leadership, technology adoption and media visibility can each create their own form of influence.
Harrison’s exercise specifically combined AI, LinkedIn, media and overall outdoor hospitality industry impact, producing a list that rewards visibility across several parts of the industry rather than any single measure.
Change those criteria and the ranking would almost certainly change as well.
A list focused primarily on campground ownership would produce different results. So would one based on investment, research, glamping, technology or association leadership.
That does not make the exercise less useful.
Instead, it illustrates how difficult influence has become to define as outdoor hospitality has grown into a larger and more sophisticated sector.
A broader group is shaping what comes next
Twenty-five names cannot capture everyone making a meaningful contribution to outdoor hospitality.
There are operators, general managers, developers, association professionals, researchers, consultants, investors, technology executives, podcast hosts and emerging voices whose influence may be significant within a particular part of the industry without yet being widely recognized across the entire sector.
There are also people building influence now who may appear prominently on lists like this in the years ahead.
That matters because the topics shaping outdoor hospitality are expanding too.
Industry conversations increasingly include artificial intelligence, automation, institutional investment, revenue management, guest data, brand strategy, workforce challenges and sophisticated development models alongside the fundamentals of running a successful campground or outdoor resort.
The people leading those conversations are becoming just as varied.
Harrison’s list provides a snapshot of that landscape in 2026: 25 people influencing outdoor hospitality through different companies, specialties, platforms and ideas.
The order will be debated. Other names will deserve consideration. New leaders will emerge.
But the diversity of the list itself reflects an important shift.
Outdoor hospitality is increasingly being shaped not by one kind of leader, but by a network of operators, executives, researchers, entrepreneurs, technologists, advocates and communicators whose collective influence is helping determine where the industry goes next.
Editor’s note: Brian Searl is the founder of Modern Campground and Insider Perks. Searl had no involvement in Mike Harrison’s original LinkedIn post, the prompt Harrison submitted or the resulting ranking. Modern Campground is reporting on the list as Harrison publicly shared it.