To this day, Tyler Watts’ claim to fame is being from a one-stoplight town. More recently, he has a newfound career as an RV park co-owner and developer. Just 50 minutes west of Charlotte, Broad River Campground has put Mooresboro, North Carolina, on the map. Tyler’s team took a literal patch of dirt with nothing but a deer stand marking it and developed the land into a standalone destination resort.
Less than a year and a half after opening, Broad River Campground won OHI’s 2023 Small Park of the Year award. Fortunately, Tyler sat down with us to share his best advice for fellow Campspot customers and anyone looking to purchase or develop an RV park. Below, we begin to highlight the key takeaways from his full webinar on site development, strategy, and selection.
From Dirt to Dollars: Site Development, Selection, and Strategy
Your Inner Circle
The “who” matters more than most considerations in the outdoor hospitality industry. Tyler credits Broad River’s early success to his choice of development group. He believes in surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you—to help keep your crazy in check but also to believe in your wild ideas!
Site Selection
Location, location, location truly matters, no matter how you spin it. However, even without existing water, sewer, or power, you can make your campground dream a reality. Broad River did just that through their park development strategy and generated dollar signs shortly thereafter. They now have 56 sites, 10 cabins, five glamping domes, and five primitive tent sites, as well as a bathouse, clubhouse, and pool-splash pad combo.
Don’t get Tyler wrong—the work didn’t happen overnight and there were many boxes to check. Firstly, his team knew to prioritize only their most essential site development aspects and then let enthusiasm propel them forward. Starting to generate revenue and developing the campground in strategic phases was the name of their game.
Watch the full webinar to learn what Tyler’s specific checkboxes were for choosing the best RV park site.
Camping Clientele
You can’t decide what to develop until you understand for whom you are developing it. Broad River chose to cater to a healthy cross-section of the RV and glamping industry: “the working man all the way up to the retired couple.”
This ambitious idea worked because Tyler remained laser-focused on his diverse clientele by considering their needs and wants during every stage of park development. In the full webinar recording, Tyler offers great advice for how to envision your clientele from the start and fit your property to them going forward.
Glamping
It’s no secret that glamorous camping is here to stay. While you may be hesitant to offer such luxuries or wonder if they will align well with your brand, camping has evolved, and operators need to adapt to the new range of camper (and glamper) preferences.
That being said, there are still important pros and cons—from maintenance needs to location-dependent factors—in order to make glamping infrastructure successful. Mother Nature helped Tyler in creative ways, too. If you’re considering adding glamping tents or domes to your property, then you need to hear what Tyler discovered.
RV Sites
For many operators, including Tyler, RV sites are the heart and soul of their parks. Some may find them boring or hard to market, but Tyler knows how fun and fundamental they truly are.
From buddy sites to utility logistics, Broad River has figured out all the ins-and-outs of RV site management to their advantage, without any prior RV park experience. As a result, RV sites are already the backbone of their revenue, even with all their other lodging options.
Also fundamental to the success of their RV sites was strategically choosing what type of RV pads and where to construct them. Watch the full video to hear the thought process that led to the most profitable scenario for Broad River.
Amenities
Tyler says to always keep your park goals and clientele (who you are catering to) in mind when making decisions about amenities. Most importantly:
- Will your campers actually care about your chosen amenities?
- Can you accommodate the often large, upfront investment?
- Are you prepared to maintain your amenities long-term?
Tyler provides a great voice of reason when it comes to these considerations, especially with so many emerging amenity options on the market.
Get Digging
To experience the rest of Tyler’s insights plus Q&A from fellow campground operators, watch the original webinar.
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Haley Dalian is a lifelong Michigander who takes advantage of recreation throughout the state’s changing seasons—from snow skiing to scuba diving in the Great Lakes. A former Campspot marketing manager, Haley holds a B.A. degree in public policy from Michigan State University and an M.S. degree in sustainability from the University of Michigan. She is passionate about environmental stewardship, exploring the outdoors, and has never met a potato she didn’t like.
Image Credit: Broad River Campground
