Industry Leader Mark Koep Kicks Off WACO Conference – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
The Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners (WACO) kicked off the first day of its five-day conference on Wednesday (March 12) with educational sessions and a keynote speech from Mark Koep, the CEO of Campground Views.
This is the 62nd edition of WACO’s annual conference and it is once again being held in Stevens Point, Wis.
The 2024 show included more than 140 vendors and hundreds of park owners and operators, and this year’s event is expected to attract even more attendees.
Koep spoke on the importance of providing experiences for campers and also touched on the importance of understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) is going to impact the outdoor hospitality industry.
Koep began by touching on how increasing costs are impacting camper habits.
“What we’re seeing now is a lot of those folks that bought RVs during COVID, they didn’t just sell their RVs, but they’re definitely tapering back,” he explained. “They’re not going to camp as much this year as they have in the past. One of the big reasons why is that costs have gone up.
“At this point they may also feel that they have traveled and experienced everything, but maybe they don’t know about an experience you have to offer,” Koep added. “So, the question becomes, What are you doing different at your park? What could you be doing differently at your park? You need to have something unique to draw people in.”
He highlighted Observer Ranch, a park in Colorado built by a woman with a background in NASA. She hosts STEM classes at her park and invites astronauts, physicists, and other people to help teach kids unique things.
Koep encouraged park owners to brainstorm something new they can do at their parks to create something unique and exciting.
Today, the WACO conference is going to host more educational sessions along with providing updates on legislative efforts the association has made to boost the industry.
The conference’s trade show opens on Friday afternoon.
To learn more about the event, click here.
App My Community has also developed a conference app, click here to download it.
