Campgrounds thriving locally despite economy

Campgrounds and RV parks nationally have seen a mild drop in visitors because of the recession, but campgrounds in the Tri-parishes are largely doing well, say local park owners.

Part of the reason is most campgrounds in the area accommodate workers coming in who need a place to stay.

The 23 campsites at Linda’s Campground and RV Park in Gibson are usually used by workers.

“Travelers we haven’t had in God knows when,” said owner Linda Aucoin, “but workers come from Mission, Texas, and New Jersey. We’ve had people who stayed from Rhode Island. There’s no work in that area.

“I stay busy. I’m pretty much full year-round, but I don’t know about the end of the year. It’s all workers for companies working in this area.”

“Campgrounds in our area are not for recreation, they’re not like Jellystone,” said La Wanda Leger, owner of Hideaway Ponds, also in Gibson. “They’re for working people, except for Lake End Park in Morgan City. It’s a common problem in the campground industry, people wanting to live at the facility.”

Unlike other campgrounds in the Tri-parishes, Hideaway Ponds is a private membership club, “more like a country club,” Leger said. The facility’s 105 campsites receive few working people or drive-ins.

Leger has experienced a slight drop-off in visitors, but that is due more to the recent rainy weather than to the recession, she said.

And unlike other area campgrounds, Hideaway Ponds has a full-time activities director who coordinates dances, costume parties and hayrides.

In fact, for Tri-parish residents having the urge to explore, many campgrounds across the country offer social activities.

Traveling by RV is often a cheaper way to travel. The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association’s Web site states that a family of four can save 26 to 71 percent on vacation costs traveling by RV.

Although the number of visitors is down slightly, campgrounds in the U.S. have experienced an increase in revenue, said National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds president Linda Profaizer. That has occurred despite rainy weather in the Northeast.

“There’s always one without a lot of activities, but if you want activities we have a lot with recreation directors,” she said. “Some have spas, lounges or offer concierge services and some will arrange for transportation to restaurants. They provide information on things to do and see. It helps to keep people there longer.”

Profaizer said the average park in the U.S. has 133 campsites. Renting cabins and other accommodations is increasing at campgrounds in the U.S. Travelers can rent RVs at many campgrounds, with linen and dishes provided, but the vehicles usually cannot leave the site.

“You do not necessarily have to own an RV,” Profaizer said. “We’ve seen more tenting, that means more people are giving it a try. … Parks are diversifying the types of rental accommodations. At some, you can rent tepees.

“There’s a change in the way people are leading their lives. They’re simplifying their lives, changing lifestyles. It’s different than going to Europe. It’s a less expensive way for people to be with family and friends.”

High gasoline prices caused many to camp locally last year, she said, but fuel costs are lower now. Still, more people have been camping within a 150-mile radius of where they live.

“When gas goes up, it’s actually pretty good for (Louisiana) campgrounds because we get local visitors, not as much from out of state,” said LeAnne Everhardt, who sits on the board of the Louisiana Campground Owners Association.

Everhardt owns Land-O-Pines Family Campground in Covington, which has numerous rental units for travelers available. The park offers a full plate of social activities, including beach parties, luaus, a Renaissance weekend, a Hollywood-themed event, and a Battle of the Bands.

“Instead of taking RVs out of state, they’re staying longer locally,” Everhardt said.

More than half of the U.S.’s 8,000 private campgrounds are individually owned, according to Profaizer. “The majority of parks are not owned by corporations,” she said.

Kampgrounds of America (KOA) owns 22 or 23 of the more than 450 parks in the chain, she said. Leisure Systems, which franchises Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Parks, does not own any of the approximately 73 campgrounds in the chain.

Linda’s Campground in Gibson has hookups for basic cable, a laundry room and a shower house. “So many campers have small bathrooms,” Aucoin said.

The campground saw more travelers when it opened in 1983, she said. Aucoin would refer them to Annie’s, Munson’s and Black Guidry’s swamp tours.

J & K Campgrounds in Galliano also serves mainly workers using the park’s 40 campsites.

Owner Taylor Plaisance said business has picked up since Hurricane Gustav last year.

“More or less it’s a camper park but it’s mostly homesteaders,” Plaisance said. “Workers boosted our economy. They brought campers with them.”

The site has no play area but it does have a fishing pond.

In St. Mary Parish, new campgrounds that opened in Amelia and Bayou Vista have presented competition, said Colleen Fontenot, owner of Morgan City RV Park.

“So we’re not as full as we can be,” Fontenot said.

“A lot of people live here, some come and go,” she said. “We’re like a workingman’s place. We’re not a recreation area.”

The location, which has 39 campsites, was converted to an RV park because of the demand for work in the area following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, she said.

Lake End Park, whose 147 campsites are owned by Morgan City, is one of the 7,000 to 8,000 public parks in the U.S. offering camping.

Lake End has seen more travelers from Louisiana and fewer from out of state, said Dianne Griffin, an office worker at the facility.

Like its privately-owned local counterparts, the park offers little or no social activities, except an Easter egg hunt.

“We’re strictly for campers, no cabins or RVs for rent, though cabins may be in the future,” Griffin said.

The park, on Lake Palourde, was the location for the filming of the first Tarzan movie ever shot.

The Neil family – (from left) Lisa, Kerry, Brenda and Darrin – prepare a spaghetti dinner outside their recreational vehicle at the Hideaway Ponds RV Resort in Gibson. Local parks report large number of visitors, despite the nation’s gloomy economic outlook. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF