MC Fireside Chats - July 20th, 2022

MC Fireside Chats

In this week’s episode of MC Fireside Chats, sponsored by Firefly Reservations, we talked to Simon Neal, Founder of CampMap–a web mapping platform startup that helps improve guest’s experience and camp management by delivering consistent and easy-to-use digital maps of campsites.

We were also joined by our regular guests, Mike Harrison from CRR Lifestyle and Joe Duemig of App My Community.

Cara Csizmadia opened up the discussion and shared the current situation of the camping and RV industry across Canada, saying as major provincial events slowly come back, things are looking positive for Canadian parks and campgrounds.

Harrison of CRR Lifestyle said that while they are currently experiencing a slow season, they are up slightly up in revenue over the last couple of months. Harrison noted that the mix is very different as the industry sees a fascinating shift in the length of stay due to variables like inflation, gas prices, and season.

“We saw a lot less of short-term transient guests, and actually, we have more bookings for long-term seasonal. Which isn’t surprising considering the gas price changes and people canceling their destination trips,” Harrison said.

Founder of CampMap Simon Neal, who’s been living in Croatia for ten years now–a known camping hotspot in Europe—founded CampMap two years ago.

Neal said that CampMap’s mission is to map in super fine detail all the campsites in the world and share all of that information with as many people and companies as possible to help the industry function better and improve the guest experience.

Neal said that while virtual tours and other types of maps are helpful and great, adding context and providing real structured information can improve business performance and customer experience.

“Our maps are professional grade, they’re built in professional software, and we map every single feature—campsite, facility, building, track, path, pool, activity, anything that you can see and interact with—we map that in a structured professional way,” Neal said.

Pivoting on the technological side of the RV and camping industry, Duemig of App My Community, said that the industry is behind.

Csizmadia ended the discussion by highlighting the industry’s resilience saying campground owners and operators are the most adaptable, noting that amid inflation, high gas prices, and loan interest rates, it keeps bouncing back and keeping up.

“It’s gonna be an interesting couple of years for the industry,” she said.