Donna Genie walks through the math on free reservation systems for campgrounds. A 100-site campground at 50% occupancy charging $50 a night makes $912,000 annually. If the owner takes reservation fees directly and charges guests $53.50 instead, revenue jumps to $976,000, a $64,000 annual gain.
100 sites
50% occupancy
$50 per night
$912,000 per year
$53.50 per night
Talking with a prospective customer who was looking at setting up a reservation system for the campground. They were really excited because they found one that was free. To them, the reservation platform just charged their guests the reservation fee directly. Why? Free is super costly in this perspective. Let's assume for a moment we have Suzy's campground, And Suzy has 100 sites in her campground throughout the entire year. The Overall occupancy is 50%, and Suzy charges $50 a night. That revenue at 50% occupancy for the entire year on average is $912,000 per year. So let's say that smart Suzy. No, I'm going to get my own reservation platform. I'm going to change the price of the reservation to $53.50 instead. So same price to the customer as the other scenario of free reservations. So her nightly rate has now brought her revenues of $976,000 instead of $912,000. So we've had an increase in revenue of nearly $64,000 because we took that reservation via $3.50. That's how much you're ultimately putting on the table.
