vacavia park model

Call Us!

1-866-574-5159

Get In Touch

[email protected]

Facebook Linkedin Instagram Youtube X-twitter
park model rv park model trailers park model park model campers park model homes for sale in campgrounds inside park model homes 2 bedroom park model homes rv park model build a tiny home 2 bedroom tiny homes tiny home kitchen park trailers park model rv's recreational park trailer park model travel trailers park model size tiny home sheds vacavia park cabins cottages

How to Boost Shoulder Season Profit

Vacavia How to Boost Shoulder Season Profit

From empty sites to year-round revenue, here’s how to capture the new wave of all-weather campers and why smart capital expenditure on facilities is the key to profitability.

Vacavia How to Boost Shoulder Season Profit

The idea of shutting down for the season is quickly becoming an outdated business decision. Thanks to modern gear, campers no longer wait for the peak summer months; they actively seek year-round adventures regardless of the thermostat, and the numbers prove it.

Shoulder season camping (fall and spring) has surged by an incredible 21% since 2021, while traditional peak season camping has slipped by 4%. Even more dramatically, true winter camping participation has skyrocketed, jumping from 17% to 28% in 2023/2024 alone (KOA, 2024). This clearly shows that true growth is happening during the shoulder and winter seasons, and this offers a massive opportunity for your business.

Why Pay Attention

While more campgrounds are fighting over the same holiday and peak-season weekends, which often sell out fast, many midweek and shoulder-season dates are left open. Over half of campers recently struggled to find available sites because those popular dates were already fully booked, even though plenty of spaces were still free at less “popular” times (The Dyrt, 2025). With shoulder season and winter camping not being a fringe anymore, the “under-served” off-peak presents an untapped revenue source.

Vacavia Why Pay Attention

Making the Off-Season Your New Priority

The 2025 industry “reset” doesn’t mean the industry is shrinking. On the contrary, the market remains robust. Data shows that 11 million more households camped in 2024 than in 2019, and the market is projected to exceed $27.8 billion in 2025 (KOA, 2025; Woodall’s Campground Magazine, 2025).

The crucial change is who is camping and what they want. Today’s younger guest mix is tilting hard toward comfort-first travelers.

  1. The New High-Value Camper: Younger generations, Gen Z and Millennials, are the driving force, accounting for a staggering 61% of all new campers (Glamping Show Americas, 2025).
  2. They Spend More: This demographic is not looking for the cheapest option. Gen Z campers, for example, spend an average of $266 per day – significantly more than other groups (Glamping Show Americas, 2025).
  3. They Demand Amenities: These campers are seeking a rustic retreat with modern comforts. They are fueling a massive boom in glamping, with KOA reporting a greater interest in cabins and glamping than in traditional RV participation (KOA, 2025).
Vacavia Making the Off-Season Your New Priority

Tapping the All-Weather Camper

Those chilly spring and fall months have traditionally been seen as a liability. Pipes freeze, bathhouses close, and revenue dries up. But the 28% increase in participation to winter camping shows a clear willingness from consumers to camp in all seasons (KOA, 2024). This is where capital expenditure on winterization becomes the highest-ROI investment you can make. 

Tapping the all-weather camper requires infrastructure. But adding premium accommodations like park model cabins or cottages is a strategy where the assets can pay for themselves in a short period of time (see sample investment calculator here). 

Vacavia Tapping the All-Weather Camper

Facilities You Can Add

This strategy hinges on your facilities. A shivering guest in a cold tent is a one-star review waiting to happen. A warm, comfortable guest in a premium cabin is a repeat customer who books for a premium nightly rate.

Your facility upgrade should focus on two key areas:

  1. Communal Comfort: At a minimum, your central facilities must be fortified. This means heated, ventilated bathhouses that are not only functional but inviting, even when there’s snow on the ground. This keeps your sites bookable for longer.
  2. Premium Accommodations: The real profit engine is in high-margin accommodations. This means fully insulated cabins with mini-splits for reliable, guest-controlled heating and cooling.

The Ultimate Solution with Low Upfront Costs

While upgrading a bathhouse is a good start, the most efficient and profitable way to capture this market is by adding premium, self-contained units. This is where Vacavia Cottages & Cabins becomes an essential partner for your business.

Vacavia’s park model cabins are not just “cabins” in the rustic, drafty sense. They are precision-built, all-season guest accommodations engineered to be your shoulder-season profit center.

Here’s how Vacavia’s products directly serve this new business model:

  • Engineered for Any Season: Unlike basic sheds, Vacavia’s units are built with superior insulation and high-quality windows. They are designed to be efficiently heated and cooled by mini-split HVAC, keeping guests comfortable and your utility bills manageable.
  • Premium “Glamping” Appeal: These cabins deliver high-end finishes, full bathrooms, and modern kitchenettes that the new demographic demands. This is the “modern comfort” they are willing to pay a premium for, instantly elevating your property to “glamping” status.
  • Speed-to-Revenue: As a CapEx, park models are a brilliant investment. They are built off-site, which means less construction disruption, faster installation, lower costs, and a dramatically quicker path to generating revenue compared to stick-built projects.
  • Maximum ROI: You can add a premium cabin to your site and command a nightly rate 2-4x higher than a standard RV slip. This is the “high-ROI” investment strategy- the units paying for themselves in a short period of time.

By investing in Vacavia’s park models, you are instantly adding the exact, high-demand inventory that the market is searching for, turning your quietest months into a predictable and profitable revenue stream.

Conclusion

The “reset” in the camping industry is an opportunity for smart owners to pull ahead of the competition. While others are draining their pipes and closing their gates, you can be checking in high-value guests.

The shoulder season is no longer a problem to be managed; it’s a market to be won. By making the strategic capital expenditure in all-weather, high-quality facilities – and especially by investing in premium, year-round accommodations like modern cabins- you’re not just winterizing your property; you’re future-proofing your revenue.

References:

Kampgrounds of America (KOA). (2024). 2024 Camping & Outdoor Hospitality Report- Camping Trips and Travel Experiences. http://koa.uberflip.com/i/1522297-2024-koa-c-oh-report-experiences/0 

The Dyrt. (2025). The Dyrt’s 2025 Camping Report Presented by Toyota Trucks. https://thedyrt.com/press/camping-report/  

Grand View Research. (2025). Glamping Market (2025 – 2030). https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/glamping-market  

Glamping Show Americas. (2025). Gen Z and Millennials Drive Camping Boom Amid Economic Shifts, KOA Report Finds. https://www.glampingshow.us/magazine/younger-camper-trends/  

Woodall’s Campground Magazine. (2025). ‘25 KOA Report: 72% Say Camping is Cost Effective Option. https://woodallscm.com/25-koa-report-72-say-camping-is-cost-effective-option/ 

Scroll to Top