KOA's Future: "Luxury and Rustic"?

Above, the Beaver, Utah KOA office. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

KOA Kampgrounds (or Kampgrounds of America) is celebrating 60 years this summer. It is one of the "big dogs" in the camping and recreation industry.

I first heard of KOAs back in the late 1960s by the security guard at Hawthorne High School. He was an older gentleman and we used to hang out with him at his truck and smoke during lunch periods. He mentioned camping and KOA Kampgrounds. 

It appears that KOA is moving towards luxury camping as well as rustic camping. RV Travel wonders if the two can co-exist. 

The posted an article that begins with:

KOA is marking its 60th anniversary this summer, long enough to become the camping industry’s big dog. Over those six decades it has grown from a string of mom-and-pop campgrounds in the country’s northern tier into a web of 540 RV parks, campgrounds and glamping parks across the United States and Canada, 40 of which are company-owned and the rest owned by franchisees. KOA is big enough and has been around long enough, in other words, that when it speaks about the state of the industry, others lean in to listen.

All of which have made Toby O’Rourke, the company’s president and CEO, a much-sought-after speaker within RVing circles. Sometimes she appears at events with a ream of statistics gleaned from KOA’s ongoing market research—statistics compiled in response to the questions KOA feels are important. Sometimes she simply talks about the industry’s future, telling reporters how she sees the industry evolving and how she envisions KOA responding. Because of her position, and because she’s smart and articulate, O’Rourke’s analysis and pronouncements carry extra heft. And because KOA is such a dominant presence in the industry, when it banks either left or right, the industry overall tends to do likewise.

To read more, go here.