Privately owned and operated campgrounds across New York experienced record occupancies during the 2021 camping season, according to a release of Campground Owners of New York. This is evident with business levels increasing from 15 to 20 percent at many privately-owned parks.
“We consider 2021 to be the busiest in the history of New York’s camping business,” said Donald G. Bennett, Jr., the longtime president and CEO of Campground Owners of New York, a campground trade association that hosts CampNewYork.com.
“Some of our members saw their business levels increase by as much as 45 percent over last year’s figures,” said Bennett, whose own park, Conesus Lake Campground in the Finger Lakes Region, experienced a 16 percent increase in business over 2020 figures.
Some campgrounds have been fully-booked that they don’t have room to take any more campers, including Grant’s Vacation Park in Fair Haven. “We were 100 percent full this year, which was the same as last year,” said park co-owner Carroll Grant. “If I had double the number of sites, I could probably rent them.”
Many campground operators affiliated with CampNewYork.com said they had enough campsites, cabins, and other rental accommodations to increase their business this year.
Patty Jarnot, the owner of Dream Lake Campground in Warsaw, said business was good this year. Her numbers increased from 15 to 20 percent this year. She credited the uptick in business at her 96-site campground to multiple factors, including an increased number of campers and a high retention rate, with increasing numbers of campers returning on multiple weekends throughout the camping season.
For Whispering Pines Campsites and RV Park in Greenfield Center, business was up 45 percent, fueled by the lifting of COVID restrictions and the reopening of nearby venues, such as the Saratoga Race Track and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, according to park owners Scott and Kimberly Foro.
Meanwhile, Pat Green, owner of Ledgeview RV Park in Lake George, said business was up 3 percent at her 213-site park, which her family has owned for 37 years. She said empty-nesters fueled much of her Monday to Friday business, with increased numbers of families wanting to stay from Thursday to Sunday or Monday.
“Thursdays felt like Fridays this season,” Green said, noting that she often had more check-ins on Thursdays than Fridays. “(We) finally had great numbers for midweek stays.”
About Campground Owners of New York
Campground Owners of New York is the trade association that represents independent campgrounds and RV parks in New York. Based in Pittsford, CONY provides education, government affairs, and marketing services for campgrounds, including hosting CampNewYork.com, a travel planning website, and publishing a printed directory of New York campgrounds.