Untapped Potential: Leveraging Local Partnerships to Elevate the Camping Experience

The March 2024 edition of the MC Hospitality Highlights report, titled “Untapped Potential: Leveraging Local Partnerships to Elevate the Camping Experience”, focuses on the potential benefits and innovative strategies for campgrounds to collaborate with local businesses and communities. The report emphasizes the importance of such partnerships in enhancing guest experiences, increasing visibility, and supporting the local economy. Through strategic collaborations, campgrounds can offer a more diverse range of amenities and activities, attracting new visitors and differentiating themselves from competitors. The report also highlights the untapped potential within campgrounds to host events that can significantly enhance the camping experience.

One of the key insights from the report is the identification of gaps in local offerings, particularly in rural areas where services such as equipment rentals, guided tours, and pet care may be lacking. By partnering with businesses, campgrounds can provide additional value to their guests. The report also suggests leveraging guest interests and behaviors to create demand for experiences like outdoor cooking classes and local music events, further enriching the camping experience.

The report encourages campgrounds to consider unique partnership ideas that leverage emerging trends, such as virtual reality nature tours, wilderness survival skills workshops, and mindfulness retreats. Additionally, special events and activities can introduce new revenue streams through packaged deals, co-branded marketing, and on-site vendor spaces. The practical steps outlined for identifying collaboration opportunities include networking events, community surveys, and engaging with local businesses and staff.

Key Insights

• Collaborating with local businesses can provide benefits such as enhanced guest experiences, increased visibility and reach, access to specialized skills and knowledge, and support for the local economy.
• Identifying gaps in local offerings for tourists provides opportunities to develop strategic partnerships. Rural areas often lack services like equipment rentals, guided tours, pet care, and transportation.
• Restaurants, shops, and attractions with limited hours, such as those closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, present partnership opportunities for campgrounds.
• Guest interests and behaviors reveal prospects to create demand for experiences like outdoor cooking classes, local music events, and equipment demos.
• Many guests are inherently curious about trying different accommodation types while camping. Campgrounds can enable the trial of RVs, glamping, and tents through local collaborations.
• Unique partnership ideas leverage emerging trends like virtual reality nature tours, wilderness survival skills workshops, artisanal cooking classes, and mindfulness retreats.
• Special events and activities can add revenue streams through packaged deals, co-branded marketing, on-site vendor spaces, and commissions on local bookings.
• Practical steps to identify collaboration opportunities include networking events, community surveys, visiting local businesses, tracking trends, and engaging staff and customers.
• A proactive, creative approach focused on enhancing the guest experience and supporting local communities is key for fruitful partnerships.