The June 10th, 2026, episode of MC Fireside Chats, hosted by Brian Searl, brought together a panel of outdoor hospitality experts to discuss driving campground demand, leveraging social media, defining target customer personas, and navigating shifting macroeconomic indicators. The conversation began with lighthearted banter about adult preferences for sweets before transitioning into introductions and updates from the recurring panelists. Joe Duemig shared news about his upcoming year-long relocation to Spain, explaining his goal to immerse himself in the local culture rather than constantly traveling.

The participants introduced themselves and provided updates on their respective operations. Joe Duemig introduced himself as the founder of App My Community, a mobile application designed to enhance communication and guest experiences at RV resorts and campgrounds. Jeremy Johnson, co-owner of Camp Kona Hills in Marquette, Michigan, reported that his property was officially three weeks into its camping season on the shores of Lake Superior. Devyn Johnson, property manager at Canopy RV Resort in New Braunfels, Texas, noted that her year-round resort was approaching its third anniversary.

Jeremy Johnson opened the business discussion by emphasizing his current focus on driving demand and increasing occupancy rates. He observed that while his campground benefits from inherent demand due to its proximity to a national park, he is actively seeking strategies to create demand rather than just capturing it. Jeremy noted strong summer reservations, speculating that more vacationers from the Midwest are choosing to drive rather than fly. Brian Searl validated this trend by citing recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which revealed a 27% year-over-year surge in airline ticket prices, making road trips a highly attractive alternative for consumers.

To build demand intentionally, Jeremy shared details about his participation in a marketing cohort led by industry expert Ben Wolff. The program focuses on teaching operators how to generate content at scale, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), and establish distinct user personas. Jeremy identified four specific buyer personas for Camp Kona Hills: the urban escapee, the weekend warrior, the outdoor enthusiast couple, and the silent sports enthusiast. By structuring content around these unique profiles, his team can effectively test engagement across various social media platforms.

Devyn Johnson supported Jeremy’s emphasis on digital marketing, drawing from her professional background in social media marketing. Since stepping into the manager role at Canopy RV Resort and hiring a dedicated social media specialist, the property achieved a 15% to 18% occupancy growth over a six-month period. Devyn explained that their Texas market is highly saturated and competitive, with multiple parks within walking distance. Canopy RV Resort positions itself as the largest and highest-priced option in the immediate area, but they successfully justify their premium rates by consistently selling their unique brand experience through platforms like TikTok and Facebook.

The panel then debated the ongoing "amenities race" within the campground industry, which Brian noted had peaked heavily between 2020 and 2024. Brian cautioned that parks without clear differentiation often struggle in crowded markets, and he advised traditional parks to embrace their true identity rather than force expensive, uncharacteristic additions like lazy rivers. Jeremy explained that Camp Kona Hills leans directly into its fully rustic identity, even utilizing social media content that highlights their lack of mainstream amenities. Joe Duemig added that there is a distinct difference between being amenity-rich and being curated, noting a growing market for intentionally curated experiences over cookie-cutter activities.

The group discussed how micro-targeted geographic features and local wildlife can serve as unexpected demand generators. Jeremy shared that his park attracts visitors from specialized birding apps due to an on-site eagle's nest and sightings of the rare Kirtland's Warbler. Brian pointed out that as artificial intelligence tools like Gemini and ChatGPT function increasingly as personal travel assistants, campgrounds should publish highly specific local content on their websites. By creating dedicated pages for niche interests—such as birdwatching, construction crews, or traveling nurses—operators give AI models the necessary data to automatically recommend their property to highly targeted travelers.

Joe Duemig provided international perspective by reflecting on his recent trip to Queensland, Australia, highlighting distinct market differences. While U.S. gas prices have experienced a slight reprieve, Australian campers are facing a reported "fuel crisis," with prices climbing over 25% to roughly $2.10 AUD per liter. This spike has made Australian travelers highly cautious about discretionary spending and long-distance travel. Additionally, Joe observed that Australian parks frequently feature high-quality communal kitchens as a standard offering, shifting the focus toward shared public experiences rather than private campsite luxuries.

This observation triggered a discussion regarding campsite infrastructure, comparing expensive concrete pads against alternative surfaces. Jeremy stated that his property features entirely grass lots, which perfectly match his target market of smaller camper vans and class C motorhomes. Devyn noted that Canopy RV Resort uses crushed granite sites with paved parking spots rather than full concrete slabs. Instead of over-investing in concrete infrastructure, her resort prioritizes high-end community spaces, including a grand room, a covered patio with propane grills, a pool, and an outdoor entertainment center, which remain heavily occupied by guests year-round.

Brian introduced statistical findings from an extensive database project where his team scraped North American campground websites. When analyzing private RV parks in Florida, "community" emerged as the most frequently used marketing term on owner websites, yet a sentiment analysis of five-star guest reviews revealed that consumers rarely used the word "community" explicitly. Devyn suggested that the disconnect might be semantic, noting that since her resort transitioned away from a corporate management company to a personalized, relationship-driven approach, their reviews heavily praise individual staff members by name, which inherently reflects a successful community environment.

Toward the end of the broadcast, Jayne Cohen, founder and CEO of Campground Consulting Group, joined the panel after attending a quarterly economic briefing hosted by the RV Industry Association (RVIA). Jayne delivered a sobering update, noting that wholesale RV shipments are being adjusted downward as consumer discretionary spending tightens under current interest rates. However, Jayne and Brian agreed that a slowdown in RV sales does not equal an immediate crisis for campground operators. Because millions of consumers already own RVs, they are unlikely to cancel vacations entirely; rather, they will adjust their travel habits, stay closer to home, or modify their lengths of stay.

The episode concluded with a unanimous warning from the experts against cutting marketing budgets during economic uncertainty. Jayne emphasized that when times are tight, operators must intensify their marketing efforts to capture new customers, as historical repeat bookings and traditional referrals may naturally decline. Devyn, Jeremy, and Joe shared their final thoughts and contact directories, reinforcing that consistent social media engagement, clear storytelling, and distinct identity positioning remain the most reliable tools for modern campgrounds to sustain growth and outpace local competition.

Episode of MC Fireside Chats my name is Brian Searl with

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Insider Perks and Modern Campground

and my sucker here that I probably

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should put away for the show because

otherwise it wouldn't be professional.

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I was twirling it in my fingers, right?

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But I was telling these guys before

the show, and I think you'll agree,

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Joe, I don't know if I asked you this,

but like we definitely were talking

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about it with Jeremy and Devyn.

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If you offer somebody a sucker and

they're an adult obviously kids will

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always take suckers, and they refuse

the sucker, either one, they're

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diabetic, which is okay, or two,

they're just weird and they're not

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somebody you want to know, right?

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There's only one of two options.

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Joe Duemig: Sadly, I think I

fall in the weird category.

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I typically don't go for suckers.

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I guess I'm just weird.

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But we'll take that.

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I actually, I'm fine with it.

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Brian Searl: like people who like,

I used to say my thing used to

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be like people who you don't know

anybody who doesn't like donuts.

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And four people in a row, including David

Basler, were like, I don't, I hate donuts.

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I don't want donuts.

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I used to say every, like you don't

know anybody who likes donuts because

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they're all probably in prison.

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And then four people in a row,

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Devyn Johnson: That makes sense.

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So that makes sense.

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But I'll pick

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Brian Searl: welcome to everybody to

another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

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We got a couple recurring

guests here with us.

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Joe Duemig, who's about to move to

Spain, gonna tell us about the outdoor

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hospitality industry in Spain, Joe?

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Joe Duemig: maybe.

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not sure.

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trying to more ingrain ourselves

in the local culture rather

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than travel too terribly much.

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We're obviously, if we're going to be

in Europe for a year, we might as well

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visit some spots, but I don't want to

get into the place where we're just

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traveling all the time and not life

like it's lived the area we're at.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, that's fair.

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That's fair.

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It'll be interesting though.

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Jeremy, welcome back as always.

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Kona Hills Campground.

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Welcome.

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Let you guys introduce

yourselves in a second.

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We got Devyn, our special guest.

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We're missing a couple

of people here today.

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Said they were gonna come, so

we'll see if Jayne Cohen pops up or

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Casey Cochran or Zach Stoltenberg.

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not.

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Some, they're probably out

doing more important things

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than being on the podcast.

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But let's go around the room and

introduce ourselves real quick.

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Joe, you first.

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Joe Duemig: Yeah, I'm Joe Duemig.

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I am the founder of

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mobile app for RV resorts

and campgrounds to enhance

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communication and guest experience.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Thanks for being here, Joe.

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Jeremy?

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Jeremy Johnson: Yeah, I'm Jeremy, one of

the co-owners of Kona Hills Campground.

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We are located in Marquette, Michigan

on the shores of Lake Superior.

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And we are officially in camping season.

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We opened two and a

half weeks ago or about.

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So we are rolling.

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Brian Searl: All right, excited

to hear about that and how

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the summer's going so far.

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Devyn?

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Devyn Johnson: Devyn Johnson.

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I'm the manager at Canopy RV Resort

here in New Braunfels, Texas.

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We're open year-round and we've

been, we celebrate our third

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anniversary in a couple weeks here.

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Brian Searl: Awesome.

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Thanks for being here, Devyn.

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All right the show.

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I'll talk to our recurring

guests, Joe and Jeremy.

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Is there anything that's come

across your desk in the last month

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since this group has been together?

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Longer for Joe.

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But that you guys feel like

we should be discussing.

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Obviously, Jeremy, you mentioned

the start of camping season.

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We all got like this backdrop

of is it going to be good?

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Is it going to be bad?

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But what else is there?

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What are you thinking about?

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Jeremy Johnson: I'm getting really focused

on driving driving demand right now.

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We have a lot of inherent demand

with our campground being that we're

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like right next to a national park.

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But, really trying to see what we can

do to drive occupancy rate, whether

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with social content or other technology.

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that's where my focus has been in the

last four weeks since we last talked.

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Brian Searl: Okay, so just, I want

to, when you first said it, I was

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picturing in my head like driving

demand, like people driving to you,

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but then I realized that you were…

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To be fair to be fair on me, okay,

we're developing a product with route

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intelligence that we're about to sell.

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So that's why my brain went there.

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But go ahead.

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Jeremy Johnson: No, the same thing.

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Yeah.

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But driving demand to our campground.

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Specifically driving, although being

in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

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most of our guests are driving.

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I think, one of the things that we're

seeing is, a lot of, I, I guess I

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don't know if people are booking

less flights, but we're seeing really

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strong numbers summer reservations.

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guessing, lot of people at least in the

Midwest are looking to drive for vacation

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rather than fly for vacation right now.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, the CPI

numbers came out today.

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We can see our price inflation or

product inflation, whatever it is.

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Price index, thank you, Joe.

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There's too many numbers I

was looking at this morning.

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And it's, I think airlines is up 27%

year over year for airline tickets.

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So I think, yeah, for sure there's

more people driving, which is good

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for our industry to a point, right?

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And then we're not at that point yet.

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I don't think.

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So it's good to hear that people

are, like, things are going

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pretty good for you so far.

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What kind of strategies?

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Because you're always one of

those forward-thinking people.

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I try to learn from what

other people are doing.

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At least that's my sense of you, right?

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Don't get me wrong.

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I'm giving you a compliment.

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You can

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say no if you want.

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You're usually one of those

forward-thinking people who goes around

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and looks at what other people are doing

and tries to always think outside the box.

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So are there strategies or things

that you've learned or thought about

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that you've found success in early on?

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Jeremy Johnson: just

getting started with it.

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We didn't do too much with

demand drive, other than SEO.

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SEO was like our main revenue

generator in our first year.

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Which worked out really well

for us because we didn't have a

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lot of competition in our area.

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So all we had to do was

be visible on Google.

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But now it's okay, we know what

our baseline occupancy rate is.

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Can we actually create demand

ourselves rather than waiting

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to capture that demand?

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And that's where to your point,

Brian I do like to look at

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what other people are doing.

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And one of the, one of the things that

I'm doing right now is I'm working I,

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I'm sure you guys know who Ben Wolff is.

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He runs like Onera and some of that

stuff down in Texas Hill Country.

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So he started a marketing cohort

where he's teaching people how they

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do demand creation and generation

with his with his properties, but

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also with Oasi, which is his agency.

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So we're going through that right now

and learning how they create content

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at scale, what KPIs they're looking at.

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And we also are trying to define

our user persona a little bit.

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So we've got four users that we think

are most likely to visit our campground.

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And then we're creating content

based on those user profiles.

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And then we'll, test it out

on social and see what drives

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engagement and what doesn't.

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Brian Searl: Yeah, the personas

have always interested me.

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And Ben Wolff does I have never

taken his program, but I've heard

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good things about what he does.

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I'm where I'm on the fence with Ben

Wolff, not specifically, but his

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strategy I think it works for the

people who have something really

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interesting to share on social media.

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If you're a, I don't want to call you I

don't want to make it sound bad, but let's

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just say a regular campground, right?

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That's where I'm wondering is all

that content creation worth it?

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Maybe I'm wrong.

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I don't know.

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Jeremy Johnson: I think you either have

to have scale or you maybe not just

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two things, but you either have to have

scale or you have to be interesting.

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For example, I think it's really hard

to drive demand with a short-term

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rental in downtown Chicago.

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What makes you stand

out of the crowd there?

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But I might not be the most

interesting campground.

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We're fully rustic, but I have scale

and I have demand a high volume area.

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So just because I know that people

are wanting to visit Marquette I can,

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our angle is rustic camping, right?

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if you look at our Instagram account

right now, you'll see the content

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that we're pushing right this

moment is we're actually talking

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about the lack of amenities that

we that's our point right now.

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It's hey, this is…

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Brian Searl: makes you different though.

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Jeremy Johnson: and so that's

our, what we're testing right now.

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As I was talking about that, and

we got our, got like our urban

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escapee, our weekend warrior, our

outdoor enthusiast couple, and

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then our silent sports enthusiast.

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Like those are the four groups we're

trying to attract with content right now.

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Devyn Johnson: I want to say we,

my background's in social media

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marketing before I started here.

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And I became the manager here about

a year ago and I have hired somebody

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specific for social media here.

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And our numbers have our occupancy have

grown about 15 to 18% in the last six

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months because of our online presence.

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So like here, we're very saturated.

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We have, we're within walking

distance to three other campgrounds.

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We are the most, we offer the most,

we're the largest in that area,

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but we are also the highest priced.

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So for people right now, they're

looking for cheaper rates per se, but

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we sell who we are through social media.

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So if y'all are working on social media,

I think that's like a really great thing.

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We're also seeing younger people

and millennials and they're

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really big on social media too.

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So I would definitely

say keep going with that.

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Jeremy Johnson: You said

you grew 15%, was it?

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Devyn Johnson: 15%.

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Jeremy Johnson: I, if this results in

15% growth for us, I'll be pretty happy.

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Devyn Johnson: Yeah, just be consistent.

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Jeremy Johnson: Yeah.

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Brian Searl: To be fair though, you

said online presence, which is a

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bigger umbrella than just social media.

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Were you able to track that 15% directly

back to social media through or…

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Devyn Johnson: we have

tracked a lot of it.

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I don't want to say all of it was tracked

from online presence, but our numbers, we,

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when I took over, we probably had maybe

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a hundred followers on Instagram,

maybe actually we didn't even have a

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TikTok, probably about 500 on Facebook.

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Now we have, our views on TikTok average

8,000 views every video at least.

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And we're just, we're really, I think

I'm saying online presence, but we're

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trying to not only advertise locally, but

really our focus has just been online.

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So we've upped our Google

ads and SEO budget.

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We also been working with

Good Sam a little bit and they

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have some opportunities for

marketing and stuff as well.

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We actually use My Community

and that's been something that

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like we have put everywhere.

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We put links on our social media,

we put it on our website, and every

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person that comes in, okay, I say

every, 90% of the people that come in

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comment about how great it is to have

a technology aspect at campground.

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Because, there's a spot on there

where we can say, you have something

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going on after hours, click it.

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Leave us a Google review here.

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So I guess I'm saying online presence

and social media, it all flows together.

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Jeremy Johnson: Yeah, that's cool.

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That's really impressive.

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Brian Searl: And we know we

know social media works, right?

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And I just wanted to clarify the

whole umbrella of what you were

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doing because certainly a big chunk

of that is social media, I'm sure.

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And, but I think that's what the

message that some people need, like

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I'm a marketing guy too, we work, we do

marketing for four or 500 campgrounds.

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I think that's something that people

need to be cognizant of is what Jeremy is

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talking about with these buyer personas.

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And how you communicate to your

audience and what you do and what

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you say and how you portray yourself.

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Like Jeremy was saying with the,

the definitely advertising more

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of the traditional or non-amenity

style stay at his property.

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I was talking to a client this morning

about the same thing where they had,

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won't name the city or the client,

but like they're in a city where they

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had three new parks built near them.

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And it's not Texas surprisingly,

it's somewhere else.

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Three new parks near them within

the last three years that have

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taken a majority of the business.

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They're newer properties, they

have more amenities, they have lazy

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rivers, those kinds of things, right?

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I told them like, you, you

need to do what you do best.

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Embrace the traditional.

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I think maybe that's the

word, maybe it's not, right?

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But embrace who you are, tell your story,

communicate that because there's a whole

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lot of people who don't like change.

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There's a whole lot of people

who don't want to be near the

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chaos of all the amenities.

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And I think, and maybe you can shed

some light on this too, Joe, or,

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Jeremy or, But I think there's been

a kind of a race toward let's promote

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as many amenities as we can in our

industry the last X number of years.

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And there's been a about the people

who don't necessarily, like we like

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amenities, but that's not really

the number one reason we're coming.

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Maybe there's a different reason we're

coming for quiet or for nature or

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for peace or that's the same or not

change or stability or whatever, right?

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What do you guys think?

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Joe Duemig: I feel like the first

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seemed like every park was coming,

like there were parks coming on left

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and right and every park was going

to have every amenity possible.

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And it's what it felt like.

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And there's different campers.

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probably are a little more,

like our family is probably

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a little more amenity rich.

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That's what we're looking for.

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But we have relatives that they

would rather go to a state park.

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And if they could get a state park that

they knew was going to be a little bit

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nicer, they would go, have everything, but

have be wooded, basically Jeremy's park.

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Then they would transition to that

if they could, a few a few like not

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upscale, but nicer activities to

do, not your, tie-dye, more cookie

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cutter things that everybody's doing.

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But having those like more catered

experiences or curated experiences.

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I think a very large market for that.

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And I do feel like the campgrounds

we're seeing coming online now

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are not like, they're starting to

become a little less amenity rich.

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That is what it seems to me, but

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Jeremy Johnson: think there's a difference

between amenity rich and curated, right?

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Like just because we don't have

mini golf course doesn't mean

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that we're not curated, right?

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And so

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just like that focus of hey, we're

gonna, we might not have mini golf,

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but we don't have this today, but

one of our plans is to have, a common

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area for so like that curation of

amenities I think is changing and what

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people are looking for potentially.

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Joe Duemig: Yeah, and what I was

saying was I was looking at your

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park as being the curated amenities.

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for your camper, for what your camper

likes as opposed to some of the mass

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mass scale like, oh, all campers like

tie-dye, all campers like mini golf.

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You're catering, you're curating

to the camper that you're expecting

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to be there that is going to be a

little more rust- they be camping

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but have have an experience, right?

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It's experience management.

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Devyn Johnson: I was

going to say that too.

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I think a curated park is just creating

a cohesive experience where, can cater to

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the four or however many different guest

types that you have and want to market to.

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Jeremy Johnson: Yeah.

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We're, and we're learning

what our customer wants.

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Like we, we had somebody last

week who came specifically just

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for the rocks at the campground.

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Like they're like, that's why we're here.

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We're here because you have old rocks.

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And I was like, okay.

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How do I sell that?

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Brian Searl: you did.

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You did Like you figured

out a way to sell it.

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That's why they were there.

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Devyn Johnson: Yeah.

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Highlight that on social media.

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around and put, say hey,

there's really cool rocks, fun

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facts or something like that.

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That would be pretty cool.

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Joe Duemig: Gotta start naming them.

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Brian Searl: We've had these

conversations on the show before, right?

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Where we talk to people about I have

so many marketing people or campground

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owners who call me and say, I want to do

marketing, but you want to reach RVers.

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No, what, you haven't put

any thought into this.

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And you did, and most of them haven't

done feasibility studies or haven't

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had the market change on them like

it has this year in the last few

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years, both up and down, right?

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And you've got to look at your, like what

Jeremy is saying, your buyer personas.

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If you think this is complicated,

you have ChatGPT in front of you,

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you have Gemini, you have Claude.

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This is much easier than it ever

was before to say, go research my

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park, it will go out and look at

everything you have, fill out some

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information and say, create what are,

what is my ideal customer profile?

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What are four different types of

buyer personas or six or eight

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that would stay at my property?

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And then use that as a basis to

tailor what you're talking about in

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your messaging online, not only on

social media, but on your website, on,

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Google, on everywhere that you can.

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And if you shape that content toward the

individual people who are best suited

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for your property, both what you want it

to be suited for and what you can have

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it suited for, you are able to, right?

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Then you can attract a bunch of

people who will probably fill up

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your park easier than going after all

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Jeremy Johnson: We didn't I wouldn't say

this is one that we necessarily wanted

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to go after, but another one that we

found out and to your point, Brian, like

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we can easily cater to it because of

the geography of where we are an eagle's

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nest on site, which is a little rare.

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And then have a, the Kirtland's

Warbler is very, which is a

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very rare type of warbler.

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It for whatever reason, they

like our campground area.

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And we get, people find

us from the birding apps.

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They say, I saw somebody take a photo at

Kona Hills Campground of this specific

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type of bird, and so I wanted to stay

here and see if I could see that bird.

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Brian Searl: the thing, like, where

we're talking to people in a world of

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AI, where AI can eat all of this content

and then serve it up to the exact bird

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watcher or the exact person who's obsessed

with rocks or whatever it is, right?

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The more information that you put

on your website, because you can do

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it faster now with AI, if you put a

page for birders and a page for, I

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don't know if the rock watcher person

is enough to put a page for, right?

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But if you had 10, 12, 15 of those

pages to work campers, traveling nurses,

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construction workers, everywhere else.

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Then that gives AI a thing to look

at and say, this park is geared

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toward this person and here is why.

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Not the same thing on every single

page, but different things, and

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that will help you fill up too.

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Jeremy Johnson: That's

a really good point.

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I didn't even think about it, but as

people continue to use AI as like a

369

personal assistant, like they, it probably

already knows you're probably already

370

asking it about birds, like you're

probably like, maybe you're uploading a

371

photo of a bird and asking what it is.

372

It knows you're a birder.

373

And then, you might not ask it what

campground is good for birding, but

374

it'll, if you say, hey I'm going to

Marquette, Michigan, where should I stay?

375

It'll be like, oh Kona Hills

is a campground where there's

376

rare birds and an eagle's nest.

377

And, it makes that

connection automatically.

378

Brian Searl: And it will

only get better at that.

379

Gmail has already said you can connect

your Gmail to Gemini and Google Search.

380

You can connect your photo library,

it'll look at your old photos.

381

It's going to get creepy from

a privacy perspective, but it's

382

going to get super helpful too.

383

Jeremy Johnson: Yeah.

384

good point.

385

I didn't think about it like that,

but that's a very good point.

386

Devyn Johnson: Yeah, I will say started

to get dive into this AI world too.

387

And when I'm on ChatGPT and I, ask

a question, it'll say, because you

388

like, this type of blah, blah, blah,

like it will literally know me.

389

It knows me better than

I know myself sometimes.

390

So we, we've just started using

AI more for like keywords and

391

things on social media too.

392

So when you, like Jeremy, if y'all

start using did you know or fun

393

facts around the campground, like

you can go on there and say, what are

394

people really looking for right now?

395

Or if they are into bird watching, what

are the keywords that they're searching?

396

That way when you post anything and

in your caption or your hashtags,

397

you're using those same words.

398

Jeremy Johnson: Yeah.

399

That makes sense.

400

Devyn Johnson: Yeah.

401

Brian Searl: Do you do any is there

any analytics tracking, Joe, and

402

who's interested in what area on

the app or anything like that?

403

What's going on?

404

Joe Duemig: So all of our projects are,

all of our projects are segregated, right?

405

So we don't really mix too

much data between customers.

406

So we don't we're planning on doing

some aggregated data around But most

407

of our stuff is, most of the things

that happen are just directly in the

408

While they might be searching, they're

typically searching for things they

409

know is already in the campground.

410

So it's just a little bit different face

because for the most part, our people have

411

already booked at the campground before

they download the app in the first place.

412

And so it's not really a a

marketing to find the campground.

413

It's more so relationship marketing

after they've already booked and

414

making their experience better.

415

So it's just different.

416

Brian Searl: Yeah, but if you could

pull out that data, and I know you

417

just literally said that you're

not, they're all isolated, right?

418

But if you could pull out that data

and see what people are searching for,

419

like I remember a long time ago we

were talking to a park about, could

420

we use AI in their security systems to

monitor what amenities are being used?

421

Sure, you absolutely can, right?

422

You, and you can even monitor like how

long they're waiting in the check-in

423

line and how often your pool is used

and what day and when the cabanas are

424

free and send them an alert to their

cabin on their Alexa device, right?

425

All that's possible.

426

So I think aggregated data

like that from a big company

427

like you, Joe, might be useful.

428

Joe Duemig: From a big company like us.

429

No, we can, we, so like I said, there is,

we are looking at possibly aggregating

430

some of our some of our aggregated data.

431

So already aggregated.

432

The thing each customer also

has things set up differently.

433

So we can definitely do that and find

some of it, but I don't know, it might

434

be slightly helpful, but I'm not sure how

435

Brian Searl: anytime we have more

data, I think that's helpful, right?

436

Let that people piece

through it and figure it out.

437

All right, what else we got?

438

What else do we want to talk about?

439

How's summer

440

Joe Duemig: Jeremy how kind of airline

prices have gone up, so people have

441

been sticking or staying closer to

home and driving to campgrounds,

442

it seems I just got back from

Australia and there the opposite.

443

I wouldn't, I shouldn't say the opposite.

444

Right now when we were down there…

445

Brian Searl: Winter now, isn't it?

446

Am I right?

447

Joe Duemig: Yeah, but they're in, they're,

they don't have too drastic of a winter.

448

Especially in Queensland.

449

Their big concern is a fuel crisis.

450

talk about our gas prices going up

a bit and they've gone up a bit.

451

They're paying closer to to $12 a gallon.

452

And and they're having anecdotal stories

of gas not being available inland.

453

And we heard from somebody like,

somebody that was there as vendor

454

said that he travels inland all the

time and has only ever run into one

455

gas station that didn't have gas.

456

But it's reported on the news.

457

So it makes people scared to travel.

458

So camping seems to be down.

459

A lot of the, a lot of the people are

a little more on edge, a little more

460

concerned about spending and stuff

like that this year than last year.

461

And it seems like that a lot of that was

fueled by one or two of the vendors had it

462

on all their stuff, hashtag fuel crisis.

463

yeah, then much more in tune and having

trouble with it than we we've seen to.

464

We got back and gas prices had gone

down about 30 cents between that time,

465

Brian Searl: what is their, what

do you know, have a sense of what

466

the normal fuel price is in Oz?

467

Because I had read that too

about Australia, it was like

468

around 10 when I had read it.

469

Joe Duemig: Yeah I think it was,

I think they're normally running

470

at 150 to Australia a liter.

471

Brian Searl: Oh, okay.

472

Joe Duemig: Australian a liter.

473

Now they're running at like

210 Australian a liter.

474

Brian Searl: Okay.

475

That's a quarter more.

476

So they're normally maybe $7?

477

Joe Duemig: Yeah, I don't

know what that maybe six.

478

I think Australian dollars are 65 the…

479

Brian Searl: 85.

480

85.

481

Yeah.

482

Joe Duemig: anyway it, they've

gone up, they've gone up over 25%.

483

Which is definitely more than us.

484

they already started at a high price.

485

So if you're driving a vehicle

that takes a lot of gas, problem.

486

There's something I noticed down there.

487

We were talking about

amenities and experience.

488

And one of the things that think I

talked about when I was when I came back

489

last year is a lot of the campgrounds

down there have community kitchens.

490

It's a very common thing at their

campgrounds is to have community kitchens.

491

So they'll have a covered patio with

barbecue or stove type equipment

492

just places to, to and host.

493

And so don't see that a ton here.

494

have seen them here.

495

And here it's treated more as an amenity.

496

There it's treated more as like a,

everyone has one and when you have a

497

really nice one, then it's an amenity.

498

So that, that was just something that,

going off the customer experience that I

499

took back from from my trip down there.

500

Jeremy Johnson: I think that's something

we haven't considered a community

501

kitchen necessarily, but community

spaces in general, especially because

502

of the rustic nature, like our, like

we, we have individual vault toilets

503

then we'll have a centralized bathhouse.

504

Like where there's, there are

flush toilets, there are showers,

505

like more of community area just

because of the way we're set up.

506

We'll be going after that rustic feel.

507

Devyn Johnson: I'll say we have so

we've been open for about three years.

508

We have a grand room, which

is like a community kitchen.

509

And there's, that's where we

do a lot of our activities.

510

We have a full calendar of events

and then we also have kind of a

511

covered patio with propane grills,

big fire pit out by the pool.

512

We last year figured like that was

something that everybody wanted was

513

these community spaces because then

they travel with, another family or

514

whatever and then they have room to,

hang out, cook, do all the things.

515

We just also on the other side of our

park just created another event space,

516

entertainment center is what we call it.

517

We have some string lights and just

tables, some umbrellas and things.

518

that has been like, apart from our pool

as well, but that's something that we

519

have people in those spaces all the time.

520

So it definitely is a pull and

something that we're seeing

521

that is very successful here.

522

Brian Searl: Are you talking about

the individual sites though, Joe?

523

Because I remember like when we first

looked at Australia I don't know,

524

2011, 2012 when NewBook was first

coming into the United States scene.

525

I can't remember, I think Brad

owned it back then before they sold.

526

That we noticed that Australia's

market was way more advanced from

527

a, an amenity on-site standpoint,

or at least what we saw.

528

I don't know.

529

Joe Duemig: I didn't

so I don't notice that.

530

We we deal with some of the

more like nicer parks there.

531

And it doesn't seem like they

have more amenities per se.

532

a large amount of amenities in the

US is probably higher in Australia.

533

This is actually more, a shared space.

534

It's not an individual kitchen.

535

And

536

I haven't seen that down there.

537

We have a lot of, that exists

here a lot in the you're looking

538

at the upscale, the motor coach

only resorts and stuff like that.

539

They'll have those private kitchens.

540

I know think Auburndale has a bunch

of their pull-throughs that have,

541

or pull-ins that have have some

private kitchens and stuff like that.

542

But no, this is like a more of

their shared, just a shared space.

543

I feel like Australia does the

majority of their camping a

544

little more rustic than we do.

545

A lot of the even nicer campgrounds

they don't, they have grass lots.

546

Like they're not, they

547

concrete and rock lots

as, as much as we do.

548

But, seeing the big water parks, yeah,

there's a few, but it's not near what

549

we have here and stuff like that.

550

Brian Searl: Which is

interesting in and of itself.

551

We last week we had Simon on the

show, who's one of our regular

552

guests, you know him from CampMap.

553

And he was showing us the difference

between some of the sites in Europe

554

and how they have like really nice

luxury RV resorts that have just the

555

gravel sites without the concrete pads.

556

And I think he said the difference,

like he did the calculation

557

quickly in his head, so it could

be a little different with euros.

558

But cited like it's somewhere

between 60 and $80,000 US to

559

build a site in the United States.

560

And the equivalent to build a

campsite at a luxury RV resort

561

in Europe is like 10 to 12.

562

Because they don't have all the

concrete pads and do and to be

563

fair, like full hookup isn't

there like with a lot of places.

564

But still, like these are luxury resorts

that people are coming to, like really

565

nice with pools and restaurants they

have all different types of sites.

566

Let's be clear, right?

567

Joe Duemig: Yeah.

568

Like I said, a lot of, there's

so many things that go into that.

569

In terms of clientele, what

the demand would be for it.

570

I think the people driving a

Class a diesel pusher they're not

571

going to ever want a grass lot.

572

fascinating thing

573

in Europe and it's

574

in Australia and it feels like at least

right now, early, that it's only the

575

United States that has all of that

infrastructure, which is good and bad.

576

Jeremy Johnson: Yeah.

577

I agree.

578

Yeah.

579

all of our lots are grass lots.

580

Joe Duemig: how many Class A

diesel pushers do you have, Jeremy?

581

Jeremy Johnson: Zero.

582

Yeah.

583

But that's product of RVs.

584

And the, unfortunately for them, it's

a really and it's it looks great, but

585

there's just so many RV parks so it's

and that, one of the reasons why,

586

we went the more the smaller RVs,

the camper vans, it's because that

587

product didn't exist in our market.

588

So it was like, look, we don't

have to compete for that.

589

That's, we're the only ones

that offer that product.

590

Brian Searl: But I think there is a

market for what we were talking about

591

last week, like I think there and I'm

not saying get rid of all concrete

592

pads, get rid of all the luxury…

593

I'm saying I think there is a market for

the smaller camper vans for class Cs those

594

kinds of places that necessarily like

would be fine paying x number of dollars

595

less for a site without a concrete pad.

596

Joe Duemig: I think that's we were what

I mentioned earlier in regards to you

597

know for four years or so everything was

trying to have the most amenities and

598

have as much as possible and then you

know Jeremy's been open two years now and

599

he was going the other direction right

trying to give an experience without

600

having to have every water equipment

every piece of water equipment known to

601

man and spending you know $75,000 a site.

602

Jeremy Johnson: Yeah my roads

cost more than my sites did.

603

But that's just that's cause we've

got probably like a mile and a half

604

worth of roads across our 80 acres.

605

Brian Searl: All right Devyn do you want

to defend yourself and your concrete

606

Devyn Johnson: so we actually

don't have concrete pads.

607

We have crushed granite but we do

have paved like parking spots at

608

But I think I agree with everything

that y'all are saying our owners did

609

a really good job of having higher

end amenities but a base amount.

610

So we have one big pool we have a few fire

pits we have like bath houses a little

611

kids playground that we try to keep all

of our kids and families in one side so

612

it keeps all the families together but

all in all the biggest thing for us is

613

those community spaces because we do

offer higher end smaller not as many you

614

know we don't have a big pool or water

park or adults only pool or you know

615

anything big like that we have a few

great amenities but we focus more on the

616

community spaces and then we also and

we have all different kinds of people.

617

So I think I'm like we have the retirees

the snowbirds we call them winter Texans.

618

Then we have the families

during the summer so right now

619

we're focusing on families.

620

So the way that we differentiate ourselves

is more through our calendar of events.

621

So like during the summer we're doing

you know some kids activities in those

622

community spaces during the winter

time we do more bingo and meet and

623

mingles with our retirees and snowbirds.

624

So I think for us the pads is not as

important as everything else that we offer

625

that is you know combined I mean we do

get people that say hey we would prefer

626

if you guys had concrete slabs or hey

you know you should let your owners know

627

that you should pave some of these sites.

628

But we do offer you know a lot

of other things that kind of make

629

the gravel pads less important.

630

Brian Searl: I'd be interested to pull

this data industry and we will like

631

we went down to Florida and we gave

a talk in front of their conference

632

recently in May and we pulled out some

interesting statistics in the talk

633

today statistics where we looked at

like our database so we have a massive

634

database of like we crawled scraped

every single campground website and

635

public private website in North America.

636

It's basically what we did and we took

all this stuff back and we looked at like

637

Florida specifically for the conference.

638

What's the most used words on Florida

RV park websites private ones and it was

639

community followed by bingo and a few

other things that you expect in Florida.

640

But so community was number one but when

you looked at the five star reviews for

641

people who had a good time at resorts

almost nobody mentioned community.

642

So it was interesting seeing the

disconnect between the owners think the

643

RVers value and what the RVers actually

mention when they have a good time.

644

It would be fascinating to see how

many people talk about concrete

645

pads and on patio on site patio

furniture and stuff like that.

646

I'm seeing more than there are.

647

Devyn Johnson: y'all should look at

our Google reviews because we at the

648

beginning it was more so the amenity

based right but lately so we had we were

649

managed by a management company and it

was all very streamlined and I think

650

our owners made great decision last year

where they didn't do that anymore and

651

they wanted it to be more personable.

652

And I think that in turn has created

such an amazing community here and now

653

our Google reviews like every other

one will talk about either community

654

our, staff  here, like I think that's

kind of the, the thing now that the

655

RV market, RV campground, everything.

656

It's so saturated here.

657

The one thing for us is our

community that we build, we have

658

a Facebook group for everybody.

659

We have our app that

everybody talks about.

660

We have like, I could.

661

Probably tell you, we have 295 sites.

662

We're about 65% capacity.

663

I could probably tell you at least a

hundred people's first names right now.

664

We make it a point here, like

that's what sets us apart.

665

So I think you're right.

666

I think nobody focuses on that, but now

in the RV world, it's more, some more so

667

something that will set a campground apart

rather than the eight other in our area.

668

It's the community that we're building.

669

Brian Searl: Yeah.

670

Don't, don't get me wrong, and I'm not

minimizing the importance of community

671

at an RVer park or a campground.

672

Oh yeah, no, no, no.

673

Brian Searl: I'm just saying it's

interesting that that's the number one

674

thing people were marketing themselves as.

675

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

676

Brian Searl: Flip side five start.

677

Right.

678

So I think it's important, but, and,

and there and, and there are places like

679

yours who, like you say, if you build

a really strong community, then that's

680

something that will organically show up.

681

If that's, if that's the type of

person who's coming to your property,

682

in your case, it seems like it's.

683

Right.

684

Right.

685

No, I completely agree with you.

686

Brian Searl: Joe, what do you think?

687

You know, most, a lot of people who

run your app are communities, right?

688

Well, you are.

689

Joe Duemig: yeah.

690

Brian Searl: You're apping, you're apping

691

Joe Duemig: i’m apping communities.

692

That's what we do.

693

Yeah, so I, I would say we have a

large, a large amount of, winter,

694

winter Texas, winter Florida, customers,

that the, the, the reason the park is

695

going with it is to create community.

696

Now, whether or not, you know, that

ends up being, you know, what they say

697

about the park when they talk about it.

698

I, I, I don't know if the word

community would be used as much.

699

I, I think that it would be more

of the feeling that they're, they

700

have when they're there, like, you

know, listened to or you mentioning

701

people's pe people by name.

702

Brian Searl: Yeah.

703

Joe Duemig: Instead of seeing the

general manager, you know, and,

704

and when they, when they mention

Devyn instead of the GM at Canopy

705

Devyn Johnson: mm-hmm.

706

Joe Duemig: while they're not

mentioning community, they just did.

707

Right.

708

And so that might be one of the

disconnects that, that you might also be

709

seeing there, is that, you know, they're,

they're feeling closer to the people

710

as opposed to, acting as a business.

711

Brian Searl: Yeah, I mean my, again,

my argument is like you should

712

build community at your resort.

713

I'm just saying it might not be the number

one thing that you market your resort.

714

That is all I'm saying.

715

Joe Duemig: Yeah,

716

Brian Searl: yeah,

717

Devyn Johnson: yeah.

718

We go back, say we go back and forth,

like we have tried to market all

719

of these other things, but because

I, and I think that's where my

720

explanation is coming from, is because

there's so many people in our area.

721

I mean, we're close to Canyon Lake,

there is probably a hundred campgrounds

722

within 50 miles of us every way.

723

And I think for us here, the

way that we keep our occupancy

724

up is that community base.

725

So we, we encourage all of our employees,

our staff members we have 15 16 now

726

sat on our staff they we encourage

them to build those relationships.

727

So that way we do set us apart in that

area because you could go 10 miles down

728

the road and find almost the same you

know base amenities or same base sites.

729

Brian Searl: Yeah what sets you

apart what's it brings us back to

730

the beginning of the conversation

731

Jeremy Johnson: yeah.

732

That makes a lot of sense I mean if

all the other sites are if all the

733

other campgrounds aren't as community

oriented and you can be that can be

734

your niche that makes perfect sense.

735

But then you got to tell your story

right so we're back to telling

736

your story and communicating that

to the niche you want to draw in.

737

Devyn Johnson: Definitely.

738

Brian Searl: What else we got guys?

739

What are we expecting summer to

look like for on a macro level

740

for the camping industry recession

proof are we not recession proof?

741

Jeremy Johnson: Probably depends on your

product I think to the conversation that

742

we're having right now there's a lot

of different products and the different

743

types of sites mean I can at least

say for us and again I'm only in year

744

two we're already over 33% of the way

745

to how much revenue we did in 2025.

746

We've been open for three weeks and

we've already done one third of the

747

revenue we did all of last year.

748

So feel and a lot of that's pre-booking

you know a lot of that's July July August

749

September but feel good about that you

know I've made one third of the amount

750

of money I did in all of 2025 so far.

751

Brian Searl: Okay it's definitely macro

versus micro I think on a macro level

752

and there will be micro cases where this

is not true but on a macro level what

753

I'm expecting the rest of the summer is

the people who are the same for whatever

754

reason right haven't differentiated

themselves in any way through their

755

marketing or through their on the ground

experience those people are in trouble.

756

But I think the people who are doing

things differently like Devyn with your

757

community and Jeremy you are with your

marketing and I don't know what you

758

do Joe but let you know but I think

the people who are setting themselves

759

apart right in that niche going after

that person provided they're they put

760

some science behind it and they're

actually not just trying to go after

761

somebody who's not there I think those

people will be much better suited

762

will they be up 10% maybe not but they

probably won't be down 10% either.

763

Jeremy Johnson: Yeah I can agree with

that I mean I don't know the numbers but

764

I know that there's a campground you know

maybe 10 miles away from me that opened

765

two years ago same time we and it's just

it's more of the same you know and I

766

don't know what their numbers are but I

sure see a heck of a lot of paid ads for

767

them everywhere so I'm guessing they're

probably trying to drive their occupancy

768

Brian Searl: they don't

have a difference maker.

769

Devyn Johnson: that's when you can

bring in your social media and say

770

look at all these cool rocks that

771

we have.

772

Brian Searl: and

773

you look at social media and you talk

about their paid ads, it's the same thing

774

I think I heard it from like a GaryVee

video like four or five years ago, right?

775

But he was basically like, if you

run organic social media content and

776

it doesn't perform well, you should

never run a paid ad based on that same

777

organic social media content because the

algorithms know what people want to see.

778

And you're just trying to

force an ad in front of you.

779

So it's the same thing.

780

If you have the same RV sites, the

same amenities, the same thing as

781

everybody else in an overcrowded market,

you're not differentiating yourself.

782

You're not going to sell

your site, probably.

783

You're going to sell more sites

for sure running Google Ads if

784

you do a good Google Ads strategy.

785

But you're not going to fill up the

way you want in a crowded market

786

just by bumping yourself to the top.

787

Most consumers are too savvy

to see right through that.

788

Jeremy Johnson: part of that social

media strategy that I talked about

789

earlier is we run all these organic

posts and see what people actually

790

engage with and convert from, we'll

create paid social media posts based

791

on the ones that worked, we won't put

dollars into the ones that didn't work.

792

Joe Duemig: a lot of it my assumption

for the summer is that it's going to

793

run the same similar to where we run

anytime there's uncertainty, which is

794

typically the destination still do fine.

795

The along the routes for long

haul destinations, long haul

796

drives don't fare as well.

797

Your overnight stops on, on long

distance travel, people out west, right?

798

There might be a lot of people,

a lot less people, that's long

799

drives with not much in between it.

800

So there might be a lot

of people doing less that.

801

And so you might see those stop

along the ways some trouble.

802

But most years if we're

having problems like that, the

803

destinations still do very well.

804

You talk about a differentiator

and being unique not necessarily

805

that you need to be changing.

806

It's that you either need to

have name, that, that name that

807

people have been coming to forever

and not have changed possibly.

808

And then you have the, the startups

that are making a name for themselves,

809

making a brand for themselves.

810

And so I think I think those

do fine that's typically how it

811

runs anytime there's uncertainty

in our market, I think.

812

Brian Searl: We looked

at that in Florida too.

813

The the amount of the number of parks

who we could not locate a social

814

media profile for by scraping their

website, they weren't linked to

815

Facebook or whatever else, right?

816

And who really didn't have an

online presence or online booking

817

engine actually charged more money

than the parks that didn't and

818

were better occupied in Florida.

819

Because they're the old parks

that have been there 30, 40 years.

820

They have a loyal following.

821

People are coming to the same thing.

822

They don't like the change.

823

And that stability, and that will

be, those people will be fine for

824

probably four or five years longer

than the other people in the market

825

will because they're established.

826

Now eventually the boomers are going

to be like there's only so many years

827

we can live and travel healthy, right?

828

But that's, but they're going to have

five or six more years on top of that

829

to figure out that next audience who

830

Jeremy Johnson: that's really interesting.

831

makes sense.

832

There are a couple parks in my

area that are what I would call

833

like legacy parks that they put

very little marketing behind it.

834

They just have that customer base.

835

Brian Searl: Yep.

836

They already got the customer and

they, it's very hard to steal that.

837

Unless you have a difference maker.

838

And if you have a difference maker,

that's great if there's a market for it.

839

All right, let's spend the last few

minutes of the show, let's go around,

840

we'll do our question and answer things.

841

But Devyn, do you have any

questions for either Jeremy or Joe?

842

Devyn Johnson: I think let's see.

843

I think actually my question would be

how, this is more asking for advice,

844

but we are mostly a long-term park

and actually Jeremy and I were talking

845

about it before y'all got on too.

846

We're right now we're struggling and

goes in with what we were just talking

847

about with our short-term guests because

there's so many people out here and

848

there's so many campgrounds and, we're

right in the middle of a big metroplex.

849

There's three cities near us.

850

But we're still not seeing a

increase of short-term weekenders.

851

Like what, because Jeremy is mostly

weekenders, like what advice do y'all

852

have to get those type of guests in?

853

Brian Searl: Who do you want to ask?

854

You have to pick somebody.

855

Devyn Johnson: Oh, I have to pick?

856

Brian Searl: Yep.

857

Devyn Johnson: Oh okay, I'm

going to pick on Joe because

858

Jeremy and I already about it.

859

Sorry.

860

Joe Duemig: I'm probably the

worst person to ask this question

861

Devyn Johnson: get to see a bunch

of different types of campgrounds.

862

So I think that's where I'm coming from.

863

Like what, for those campgrounds that

do have a lot of weekenders, what

864

do you notice that might be a little

bit different than a long-term park?

865

Joe Duemig: in terms of bringing

them the first place, I think that

866

kind of goes to the marketing.

867

And so if the marketing that you've

been doing so far has been based on

868

the current experience that you've been

giving given to your long-term where

869

that it would need to change and have

something to cater to that short-term.

870

A lot of our campgrounds that are that

have a higher percentage of short-term,

871

they also have, and this might not

be useful for you mainly because they

872

have an amenity that draws it, but

they might have day use during the

873

week or something like that to also

just get people out to experience

874

the park even if they're not camping.

875

So that's actually a semi-common

thing that I've seen.

876

But I think it would be most likely a

different style of marketing hearing

877

marketing too, because not trying to sell

someone in Austin to come stay for winter.

878

So your locations wildly different and

what you're offering is wildly different

879

than what you need to offer that person

in Austin, maybe maybe if you're trying

880

to bring in some of the people from

Austin you're trying to get people

881

that would have gone to Austin to come

to your park would be music, right?

882

bringing in talent that people

know of but maybe don't want to

883

go into the city to experience.

884

That can be something that might make

a lot of sense for a park in your area.

885

Devyn Johnson: Okay.

886

Nice.

887

Brian Searl: Should we say hi to Jayne

here or should we just she showed

888

up with minutes left in the show.

889

Joe Duemig: I think Jayne might

have had us down an hour later, huh?

890

Jayne Cohen: No, I'm sorry.

891

Sorry everyone.

892

I actually was on the RVIA that they

do once a quarter about the economy.

893

Brian Searl: What came out of it?

894

Give us the highlights real quick.

895

Jayne Cohen: it was a bit

depressing, to be honest.

896

will say that at the end when they asked

for questions, no one had a question.

897

And it was the kind, it was news that

they didn't, that in the last quarter

898

they were hoping they weren't going

to give it to us, but pretty much

899

they're adjusting shipments down.

900

And discretionary spending, RVs

are discretionary spending and

901

they expect that to go down.

902

I think we're in a, at a time where

it's buckle up, tighten your belts.

903

We got to really pay attention to what's

happening in the economy right now.

904

I don't necessarily think that

people not buying RVs completely

905

affects us immediately.

906

And I say this because, there's all these

RVers out there already that own RVs.

907

And, right?

908

And given the choice people

usually don't give up their

909

vacations even during bad times.

910

They just change how they vacation.

911

So I don't necessarily think bad

news for RV dealers translates

912

into immediate bad news for us.

913

However, obviously good news for

them is good news for us, right?

914

The more RVers there is out there.

915

Brian Searl: the long-term tail.

916

the if it continues as bad news

for RV dealers for two to three

917

years, can be bad for the camping

industry, but not short-term.

918

I agree

919

Jayne Cohen: most prudent operators,

they're aware, we're all aware of

920

what's going on the macro economy.

921

And it just, proceed

with cautious optimism,

922

Brian Searl: are we still

at cautious optimism?

923

That was the 2024 buzzword.

924

Jayne Cohen: I know.

925

I think I'm back there.

926

I prefer to be at least

cautiously optimistic.

927

Brian Searl: I'm mostly a realist.

928

Jane, I'm mostly a realist.

929

People tell me I'm negative all the time.

930

Jayne Cohen: I just say sometimes I think

you're on the verge of negative, Brian.

931

Brian Searl: I am.

932

Not on purpose.

933

Like I want to be optimistic.

934

I'm just looking at the numbers.

935

Anyway, what else they

talk about the economy?

936

Anything else?

937

Jeremy Johnson: just to be real

to your point about it, the entire

938

socio-economical atmosphere has changed,

like people, the reality like we no

939

longer have 3% interest rates and, gas.

940

We live in a different world than we

did four years ago or five years ago.

941

And so I don't know, I think you just

have understand what the customer

942

wanting and able to accomplish at this

point in time and it's not what it was

943

in like it's just a different world.

944

Devyn Johnson: I think what

Jane was saying too goes back to

945

what we were all talking about.

946

If we don't know how to market

to certain guests, then we're,

947

we are going to fall behind.

948

I think the, those campgrounds that

work hard enough to earn every booking

949

and they're pretty knowledgeable

about who's traveling is going to

950

be the ones that are successful.

951

Jayne Cohen: I agree with you, Devyn.

952

And, one thing that happens is sometimes

sometimes when things are tighter,

953

like people cut out marketing, right?

954

Which to me certainly the kiss of death.

955

Like you need to do more of it

because possibly the repeaters

956

won't be repeating as much.

957

And their referrals that normally would

come camping might not be camping as much.

958

So that means we've got to put more

pressure on getting some new people in.

959

And that's where marketing

becomes really important.

960

Brian Searl: Yep.

961

Agreed.

962

Let's keep going with our

questions at the end here.

963

Devyn Jane or

964

Jeremy Johnson: I'm gonna go with Devyn.

965

we talked about this before the

show but my sister lives just around

966

the corner from your RV resort.

967

got to find some time to go visit

her so what's the best time to visit

968

New Braunfels Texas?

969

Devyn Johnson: New Braunfels has been

one of the fastest growing cities for

970

the last six seven years seven eight

years something like that in the US.

971

tourist season is right now so I probably

wouldn't say right now but May or

972

September October it's still warm enough

to go to the river and do things outside

973

and it's a little bit slower than this

time of year so definitely like May or

974

October I think would be your sweet spots.

975

Jeremy Johnson: Maybe an October

visit you accommodate a 24

976

foot 1990s Toyota Sunrader?

977

Devyn Johnson: Oh absolutely

we'll have a spot for ya.

978

Brian Searl: Joe you have a

question for Jeremy or Jane?

979

Joe Duemig: yeah I in my end of gotten

answered last week so I don't know but

980

Jeremy I was curious if you've recently

added any new like classes or things like

981

that I know you were doing quite a few

of them last year and I was wondering

982

what you've added new for this year.

983

Jeremy Johnson: What you mean like at the

campground nothing new that we've added

984

we are expanding some of I'll call it

programming so one of the things we'll be

985

doing is in our off season in the winter

we'll be doing more winter climbing and

986

ice climbing so like last year for example

during Michigan Ice Fest we did one

987

day of classes next year we'll be doing

three maybe four days and then hopefully

988

a full season of climbing that's really

in anticipation of one day being able to

989

be open year round as we add permanent

cabins and things so we're just like

990

trying to build that demand now by doing

that programming so then when we open we

991

have that demand for stays right away.

992

Brian Searl: Very cool.

993

Devyn Johnson: Yeah.

994

Brian Searl: Anybody have a question for

Jane since she jumped on late or do we

995

want to Jane's all negatives maybe nobody

wants to ask any questions for Jane.

996

Devyn Johnson: I just have a

crazy question Jane were you at

997

the TACO convention this year?

998

Jayne Cohen: Yes I was yes.

999

Devyn Johnson: Okay I was gonna

say you look so familiar and I

00:50:59,957 --> 00:51:03,357

know you from somewhere and it

just clicked so met you there.

00:51:04,287 --> 00:51:07,937

Jayne Cohen: Yes I actually

spoke about guest services.

00:51:08,427 --> 00:51:13,217

Devyn Johnson: Yes that's right

okay it's good to see you again.

00:51:13,947 --> 00:51:17,587

Jayne Cohen: Nice to see you

and I love New Braunfels Texas.

00:51:18,277 --> 00:51:21,737

Devyn Johnson: Whenever ya'll want to

come visit come on we got a spot for ya.

00:51:23,607 --> 00:51:23,857

Brian Searl: All right.

00:51:23,857 --> 00:51:25,917

We got a couple minutes left.

00:51:25,917 --> 00:51:26,074

Let's wrap it up.

00:51:26,074 --> 00:51:26,987

Let's go around the room real quick.

00:51:27,027 --> 00:51:29,917

Devyn, any final thoughts or, and then

where can they learn more about Canopy?

00:51:30,907 --> 00:51:32,217

Devyn Johnson: check out

all of our social media.

00:51:32,217 --> 00:51:35,847

Our TikToks and Facebook

a great spot right now.

00:51:35,857 --> 00:51:37,947

We are growing and growing.

00:51:37,997 --> 00:51:43,727

Again, we've had about 15% occupancy

growth in the last couple months and I

00:51:44,347 --> 00:51:49,337

really do think social media is like the

newest, biggest, most important thing

00:51:49,347 --> 00:51:51,337

in the marketing world of campgrounds.

00:51:51,397 --> 00:51:51,767

I don't know.

00:51:51,767 --> 00:51:52,857

I think this was super fun.

00:51:52,857 --> 00:51:55,147

This is my first time doing

a podcast with you guys.

00:51:55,147 --> 00:51:59,577

It's great to hear other trends

and other viewpoints of people.

00:51:59,627 --> 00:52:03,117

This is the first time that

I've managed an RV, actually

00:52:03,137 --> 00:52:05,047

worked or managed an RV park.

00:52:05,047 --> 00:52:08,397

So it's great to hear and connect

with other people in this industry

00:52:08,397 --> 00:52:09,627

and y'all are all wonderful.

00:52:09,627 --> 00:52:10,657

So thanks for having me.

00:52:11,847 --> 00:52:12,327

Brian Searl: Thanks for being here, Devyn.

00:52:12,427 --> 00:52:15,527

Jeremy, any final thoughts and where can

they learn more about your campground?

00:52:16,057 --> 00:52:19,247

Jeremy Johnson: We are officially

in summer here in Northern Michigan.

00:52:19,247 --> 00:52:20,247

So come visit.

00:52:20,307 --> 00:52:21,137

It's beautiful weather.

00:52:21,137 --> 00:52:24,307

A little rainy today, but

75 and sunny most days.

00:52:24,531 --> 00:52:26,961

you can book a site at campkonahills.com.

00:52:28,191 --> 00:52:29,091

Brian Searl: Thanks

for being here, Jeremy.

00:52:29,111 --> 00:52:31,571

Any final thoughts, Joe, and where can

they learn more about App My Community?

00:52:38,301 --> 00:52:39,431

Joe Duemig: Sorry, no real final thoughts.

00:52:39,611 --> 00:52:42,951

As Brian said, Brian announced a few

times, we're going to move into Spain, but

00:52:45,461 --> 00:52:46,501

doesn't change what we're doing.

00:52:46,611 --> 00:52:50,791

Felt like we, things in Missouri

here, so we can manage this just fine.

00:52:50,821 --> 00:52:55,021

So we and we're App My Community,

make mobile apps for campgrounds to

00:52:55,061 --> 00:52:56,951

increase your customer experience.

00:53:00,051 --> 00:53:02,371

Brian Searl: So wait, next month

at this time, you won't be, you

00:53:02,371 --> 00:53:03,631

said July 23rd, you're moving?

00:53:03,631 --> 00:53:05,311

Joe Duemig: I will, we'll

still be around at this time.

00:53:05,311 --> 00:53:05,521

Yep.

00:53:05,531 --> 00:53:07,591

July 20th is our move date.

00:53:07,591 --> 00:53:09,701

Brian Searl: Two months from now, you're

going to be on the show from Spain.

00:53:10,231 --> 00:53:11,781

It'll be 8 and 8, 8, 9

o'clock at night, right?

00:53:12,351 --> 00:53:12,391

Joe Duemig: Maybe.

00:53:12,391 --> 00:53:13,911

I was saying it's going to be pretty late.

00:53:14,111 --> 00:53:16,641

Lots of children around, so we'll see.

00:53:16,961 --> 00:53:18,371

We'll see what that first month brings.

00:53:18,661 --> 00:53:19,181

Brian Searl: It's not

going to be late, man.

00:53:19,451 --> 00:53:21,431

They eat dinner at 10 o'clock in Spain.

00:53:21,821 --> 00:53:25,991

Joe Duemig: our kids still start

school at 8:30, so we'll see.

00:53:26,531 --> 00:53:27,921

Brian Searl: You just

gotta go on less sleep.

00:53:27,931 --> 00:53:30,261

It'll be more charming

than kids always are.

00:53:30,261 --> 00:53:30,901

Joe Duemig: That's right.

00:53:32,221 --> 00:53:33,311

Brian Searl: Jayne, any final thoughts?

00:53:33,311 --> 00:53:35,611

I know you were just here for a

short time, but any final thoughts?

00:53:35,611 --> 00:53:39,091

Jayne Cohen: Yeah, and I apologize

for that, but I just want to say

00:53:39,151 --> 00:53:41,001

I going to say ditto with Devyn.

00:53:41,761 --> 00:53:48,281

We are finding that social

media as a marketing source is

00:53:48,281 --> 00:53:49,621

becoming more and more important.

00:53:51,811 --> 00:53:54,631

Brian Searl: And where can they learn

more about your consulting company, Jayne?

00:53:54,761 --> 00:53:57,931

Jayne Cohen: right on our website,

campgroundconsultinggroup.com,

00:53:57,931 --> 00:54:01,541

or you can phone me or one

of my associates, or you

00:54:01,541 --> 00:54:02,811

can even ask Brian about us.

00:54:03,981 --> 00:54:04,971

Brian Searl: You want to

give your phone number out?

00:54:05,101 --> 00:54:05,781

Just give your cell phone out.

00:54:05,801 --> 00:54:07,141

Jayne Cohen: Sure, I'd be happy to.

00:54:08,331 --> 00:54:09,551

My cell phone is

00:54:12,981 --> 00:54:14,901

00:54:14,901 --> 00:54:16,721

Brian Searl: I didn't know she was

actually going to do it, but okay, cool.

00:54:16,941 --> 00:54:18,621

I'll do it.

00:54:18,621 --> 00:54:22,191

All right, thank you guys for joining us

for another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

00:54:22,191 --> 00:54:24,121

If you're not sick and tired of

hearing from me, I will be on

00:54:24,131 --> 00:54:26,991

Outwired, our other live podcast,

in about an hour with Scott Bahr.

00:54:26,991 --> 00:54:29,101

We're going to actually dig into

some of the economic numbers

00:54:29,101 --> 00:54:30,161

that came out today a little bit.

00:54:30,451 --> 00:54:32,141

And then we're going to go

through like a plan, if you're a

00:54:32,141 --> 00:54:33,591

campground owner, how do you react?

00:54:33,591 --> 00:54:38,101

How do you actually find your niche or

your experience that sets you apart?

00:54:38,101 --> 00:54:39,421

And then how do you do all your marketing?

00:54:39,421 --> 00:54:40,941

We're going to go through that

in a live exercise with AI.

00:54:41,941 --> 00:54:43,811

So if you want to see that,

then come join us on Outwired.

00:54:43,811 --> 00:54:46,421

If not, we'll see you next week for

another episode of MC Fireside Chats.

00:54:46,931 --> 00:54:47,901

Thanks everybody for being here.

00:54:47,911 --> 00:54:48,441

Appreciate ya.

00:54:48,911 --> 00:54:49,091

Jeremy Johnson: Bye.