Imagine for a moment that you’re about a year or so into running your first campground. At first, guests trickle in slowly, but as word gets out about your little slice of paradise, the steadiness of campground life increases: guests checking in and out, coming to the front desk to ask questions and raise concerns, paying for their stay, the whole gambit. When guests are few and far between, it’s much easier to manually manage every aspect of their stay. However, when the number of guests increases, and you need to hire staff to support the increase, keeping things running smoothly with pen and paper or a spreadsheet becomes much more difficult.
The realities of running a good campground, as any property owner would tell you, are hard work, the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively, and improvise when you need to so that you can keep your guests happy.
Managing the many different aspects of campground management life can be dizzying at times, so it’s important to lean on technology when you can. Campsite reservation software can be a valuable tool in your arsenal to organize daily schedules and workloads and incorporate automation to reduce or eliminate the need to dedicate hours to administrative work.
In this article, we explore more surrounding campground management software, including why it’s a worthwhile investment for accommodation entrepreneurs, key features you should be looking for in the solution you choose for your business, and tips for using it effectively.
Why Invest in Campsite Reservation Software?
The biggest reason to invest in campsite reservation software is to make your and your staff’s lives easier as you go about your day-to-day business activities. The software’s features and automation capabilities not only work to reduce your workload and make your business more efficient, but they are also keys to unlocking your business’s maximum revenue growth potential.
The table below summarizes several reasons why investing in campground reservation software is a smart choice, while the sections below go into more detail regarding each point in the table.
| Campsite Reservation Software Investment Reasons | Main Benefit |
|---|---|
| Lowers total cost of ownership (TCO) | Cutting costs with staff and time savings without sacrificing quality of service |
| Helps provide an improved customer experience | Gives customers more flexibility and control over their experience |
| Automations save time | Reduces the need for manual management and takes over tedious administrative tasks |
| Allows better management of your online presence | Easily keep bookings from multiple sources organized through a centralized reservation system |
| Provides secure payment processing | Allows guests to pay online through a secure payment portal |
1. Lowers Total Cost of Ownership
As business owners, we’re always looking for ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality of service. Investing in software is one of the easiest and most effective ways to do this. Campsite reservation software is one of those tools that is worth the investment because of the cost savings it facilitates through saved time and added convenience for customers.
For example, with Newbook’s online booking and centralized reservation system, you can reduce the workload for frontline staff and more effectively manage bookings for all of your properties at the same time. The online booking system gives guests more flexibility and control over their bookings and provides them with the convenience of booking at any time. The centralized reservation system aggregates all of the reservations for your properties so that you don’t have to worry about managing separate websites or booking platforms. These time savings translate to dollars, making campground reservation software a more than worthwhile investment.
2. Helps Provide an Improved Customer Experience
With camping reservation software, accommodation providers can give their customers a better experience in various ways, from booking to check-out. Newbook’s online booking system gives customers full control over their vacation experience by allowing them to easily browse available dates, select available campsites from a map, and provide relevant upsells to enhance their stay.
3. Automations Save Time
The business automations offered through campground reservation software like Newbook make your investment in the software more than worthwhile. For example, let’s say a customer makes a reservation on your website or through one of the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) that you list with. This new reservation can trigger a series of automated responses in the reservation software for campgrounds, from scheduling a once-over for the campsite the customer selected to sending a confirmation email and/or SMS to the customer confirming their reservation. Also, automatic task tracking can notify customers when the campsite is ready and remind them to check in on arrival.
4. Better Management of Your Online Presence
It’s not uncommon for outdoor accommodation providers to list a variety of OTAs to improve their reach to their target market. Having campsite reservation software helps you centralize your online business presence, as your online bookings are filtered through to a centralized reservation system. This ensures that no matter which channels attract your customers, you’ll be able to keep all bookings organized.
Newbook also allows you to accurately see the performance of different channels so that you can prioritize the ones that are the most effective in attracting customers to your business.
Your all-in-one, online booking system
Newbook is your all in one online booking system. Talk to us today to learn how you can improve operations and increase bookings for your business.
5. Secure Payment Processing
Reservation software for campgrounds enables secure payment gateways that are integrated into the software, ensuring safe transactions. It also enables a more convenient way for customers to pay, as they can do so online through common payment methods such as credit cards. For campgrounds that offer long-term stays, Newbook also offers flexible payment plans that allow guests to pay weekly, biweekly, monthly, or annually.
Challenges Faced by Campground Management and Solutions
While owning a campground can be rewarding, there are a variety of challenges that owners often face. Many of these challenges can be solved with the right combination of software and strategic decision-making, further increasing your ROI with campground reservation software:
- Seasonal demand: It’s not unusual for campgrounds to experience fluctuations in demand in line with the seasons. Managing high occupancy levels during peak seasons can be difficult while finding opportunities to boost revenue during slower periods can match that difficulty. A campground management system can help in both cases by streamlining your booking process through self-service online functionality on your website as well as enabling automation to take over confirmations, scheduling, and reminders.
- Maintenance and facilities: Campgrounds require regular upkeep and maintenance, especially for facilities like public cooking areas, restrooms, showers, and recreational areas. Managing the daily tasks associated with this upkeep is essential but can be difficult to do manually. Campground management systems can take away some of the burden through automated scheduling and allowing staff members to indicate when a task has been completed. For example, a daily recurring schedule can be set to have staff check key areas of the campground to eliminate the administrative task of having to create a new schedule every day. Plus, a record of completion that includes the name of the staff member and the time they completed the task helps ensure accountability.
- Emergency preparedness: Because campgrounds are often in remote locations and open to the elements, they can be more vulnerable to natural disasters than other accommodations, such as a hotel. Emergency preparedness is therefore essential. An out-of-the-box use of a campground management system in an emergency situation was demonstrated by Newbook customer Tathra Beachside, who used the software’s capabilities to account for every single guest and pet on the resort while they effectively managed their emergency response plan from a remote location. Emergency response specialists have praised and studied this ingenious use of technology.
- Competition: Campgrounds, especially ones in touristy areas like national parks, can have high competition due to the close proximity of properties and high demand. Highlighting upsell opportunities like outdoor activities as well as campground amenities and features can help you stand out from your competitors. Campground reservation software can help with this by dynamically making recommendations during the booking process, allowing customers to select options that enhance their stay.
Key Features of Campsite Reservation Software
There are several important features of campsite reservation software that make it an important addition to your business’s tech stack. These features include:
A Complete Online Booking Solution
These days, people prefer to book accommodations online rather than over the phone or in person. This is because booking online is more convenient as it can be done at any time, it’s easier to compare prices with different accommodation providers to find the best deal, and ultimately booking online gives customers more control over their experience.
Having streamlined, straightforward campsite booking software in place is therefore essential for providers. If your booking system is clunky or doesn’t offer many options for stay customization, the chances of potential guests looking elsewhere are high. Most campsite booking software offerings have the ability for the software to integrate with your website as a plugin, and customization options so it can match your brand’s color scheme and incorporate your logo. This way, potential customers can have a seamless experience from when they click the “book now” button to when they click “confirm booking”.
Real-time Availability
When customers are booking online, whether it’s through your website or an OTA, it’s important that they are presented with the most up-to-date information on campsite availability. Otherwise, you risk double bookings and contend with unexpected cancellations, leading to unhappy customers. Most campsite reservation software solutions, including Newbook, automatically sync OTA and website booking information so that the most current camp spot availability is displayed no matter if the guest is booking directly or through a third-party channel.
Reservation Management
When a reservation comes through, it’s important that staff members are able to view, modify, and otherwise glean information from these bookings. A campground reservation manager provides an easy way for staff to view bookings, whether they are at the front desk or working remotely.
Online Payment Support
The ability for customers to pay online is a must for all businesses today, but especially for accommodation providers. Online payments are key in ensuring that bookings are paid promptly. Campground reservation software typically integrates secure payment gateways to easily facilitate online payments. Solutions like Newbook even have options for deposits and payment plans in addition to accepting full payments for reservations.
Automations
Reducing administrative burden is a key feature of campground reservation software. There are a variety of ways that automation can reduce or eliminate the need to manually perform certain tasks. For example, when a customer completes a booking, the software can automatically send them a confirmation email or SMS. At the same time, a task can be created to notify a maintenance person to give the campsite a once-over just before the guest is due to check in or alert the appropriate staff member if the guest booked an amenity like a kayak or bicycle.
Automations are also useful for notifications and reminders in various situations, whether to alert a guest that a payment is due or to remind a staff member that a guest is due to check out soon.
Key Considerations When Looking for Campground Reservation Software
There are a ton of different campground reservation software options available on the market, making choosing the right one for your business all the more important. Here are several considerations that you should keep in mind when you’re selecting your next solution:
1. Ensure the Software Has a Backup Option
It’s important for an accommodation business owner to be prepared for any situation that could result in data loss. Whether it’s due to a natural disaster, data breach, or property damage, quick recovery is essential for business continuity.
Online software as a service (SaaS) businesses that offer campground software should have effective backup options for their customers. Because cloud-based software is standard these days, it’s easy for these companies to offer secure backup solutions, usually through a provider like Amazon Web Services, Google, or Microsoft.
2. Price vs. Features
When you’re evaluating different options for campground manager software, it’s important to have a good idea of which features you’re looking for. Make a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves, and use that list to narrow down your options and compare prices. Some options for must-have features are listed in the table below:
| Must-Have Features for Campground Reservation Software | Why it’s a Must-Have Feature |
|---|---|
| Robust channel management | Allows you to effectively manage multiple OTAs from one centralized platform |
| Real-time updates | If you use dynamic pricing, having your latest prices automatically update on the OTA platforms that you use is essential |
| Online booking software | Allows you to centralize booking information from different areas, including OTAs and direct, for easy management |
| Online payments and invoicing | The ability to be able to take online payments and provide customers with digital invoices is essential |
| Revenue management | Allows you to utilize tools like dynamic pricing to set the best rates for your campground based on factors like seasonality, market demand, economic conditions, etc. |
| Automations | From task scheduling to notifications, automations save you time and money by reducing administrative workload |
| Scheduled reporting | Get valuable information automatically sent to your inbox so you can make informed, data-driven business decisions |
3. Scalability
If expanding your business is part of your vision, ensuring that your campground management software can grow alongside is crucial. Several software-as-a-service providers offer flexible pricing models, such as tiered structures or per-user rates. Analyzing how these pricing structures might evolve with your business expansion is essential. Additionally, assessing the strength of administrative tools and security features is paramount for handling diverse user types. Numerous software providers integrate robust security measures like multi-factor authentication and single sign-on as standard protocols for user authentication and safety.
4. All-in-One Solution or Separate Software
Consider whether an all-encompassing campground reservation software suits your needs or if using multiple software pieces for different functions is preferable. Some operators opt for a separate channel management software despite its integration with their Property Management System (PMS), assuming it’s cost-effective or due to familiarity.
While certain tasks like email management, website development, or handling specific guest communications might warrant separate software, many aspects of short-term accommodations can seamlessly integrate into a unified software solution.
How to Effectively Use Campground Reservations Software
Utilizing campground reservation software effectively involves several key steps and best practices:
1. Accurate Setup
To take full advantage of what your campground reservation software has to offer, it’s important that you start with accurate data. Ensure that customer information, campsite details, amenities, pricing, and availability are all accurate. Checking the connections with other pieces of software you’re using to augment your campground management software is also essential so you can ensure that information transfer and use between your core software and integrations is seamless.
2. Promote Direct Online Bookings
Having an integrated online booking system on your website is key to encouraging guests to book with you directly. The booking system should be easy to use and accessible. Newbook’s booking system, for example, can be easily added to your website via a plugin. You can incorporate essential features into the booking process, such as a map of your campsites so that guests can select which one they want in proximity to amenities or property features (e.g. beach or wooded areas). You can incorporate upsells during the booking process, giving guests an easy way to select additional services that boost their vacation experience.
3. Use it to Manage your OTAs
Effective OTA management is important to ensure you’re taking full advantage of the best marketing channels for your campground. A built-in channel manager in your campground reservation software, like what’s offered in Newbook, makes it easy for you to centralize OTA management so you don’t have to visit each website separately and rely on native tools. Plus, Newbook’s channel manager gives you insights on each OTA that you’re using so you can determine which ones to keep and which ones to cut.
4. Automate Communications
Using automated email and SMS notifications and reminders to confirm reservations, provide check-in and check-out instructions, and even follow up after a stay with a survey are great ways to take advantage of the campground reservation software’s automation. With some systems, marketing campaigns can also be connected to the software, boosting the power of automated communications even further.
5. Utilize Reporting Tools
Take advantage of the software’s insights, as they will help you make data-driven and informed business decisions. Data from occupancy rates, popular amenities, and revenue trends are useful for operations improvement and developing marketing strategies.
Why Newbook Is the Best Campground Reservation Software Option
Newbook offers all-encompassing campground software, facilitating a holistic and efficient approach to managing your campground. This comprehensive system includes:
- Property management software
- Channel management functionality
- A centralized reservations system enabling unified management of multiple locations from a single platform
- Integrations with existing tech stacks and OTAs crucial for attracting new bookings
- Self-service kiosks designed to streamline check-ins and offer continuous guest support
Moreover, Newbook values its customer relationships as collaborative partnerships. From initial onboarding to ongoing customer support, our commitment ensures that customers maximize the benefits of our software and services.
Our investment in top-tier infrastructure through Amazon Web Services guarantees the secure storage of your data within US borders. Security measures include cutting-edge encryption, threat anomaly detection, penetration testing, and more, ensuring utmost safety for your and your customer’s data.
In terms of reliability, Newbook boasts an impressive 99.99% rating, far surpassing the industry standard of 99%. The difference might seem minimal at first glance, but the breakdown reveals a significant distinction:
- 99%—An outage of 3 days, 15 hours, and 39 minutes annually
- 99.99%—An outage of 52 minutes and 35 seconds annually
This minute difference in percentage significantly impacts reliability, reflecting Newbook’s unwavering commitment to ensuring minimal disruptions in business operations.
Conclusion
Campground management demands meticulous attention to detail and effective utilization of resources. As a campground owner, the initial stages of managing your property might involve manual processes, but as your business grows, these methods become increasingly cumbersome. The challenges of maintaining a successful campground include managing demand fluctuations, offering excellent customer experiences, and ensuring efficient operations amidst evolving demands.
To address these challenges, integrating campground reservation software is crucial. This software streamlines operations, enhances customer experiences, and optimizes revenue potential. Newbook, as an example, provides a comprehensive solution that encompasses property management, channel management, centralized reservations, and integrations with existing systems. This software reduces administrative workload and offers guests convenience and control over their bookings.
Discover more about Newbook and how it can enhance your accommodations business by getting in touch with Newbook today!
Your all-in-one, online booking system
Newbook is your all in one online booking system. Talk to us today to learn how you can improve operations and increase bookings for your business.
