Ever wonder why campgrounds give discounts? Better yet, ever wonder what it costs a campground to GIVE a discount? Most people think it only costs the campground the 10% of the reservation fee.
So lets talk about that.
Anyone knows that there is a difference in price and cost. The price might be what you sell something for. Cost is what you bought it for. Somewhere in between there needs to be a profit, or the business cant operate.
Did you know that most campgrounds that offer discounts have to pay huge dollars for the ability to do so? Yes. Let me show you.
As an example Good Sam COSTS most campgrounds thousands of dollars a year to advertise with them. In return the campground is supposed to get LOTS of business according to the Good Sam sales people. So lets say a campground spent the typical $6500 on advertising with Good Sam. A dozen people come to the park as a result. That means the campground paid hundreds per customer to give the discount. Seems backwards doesn't it? Is this a rant? Well kind of. If Good Sam actually had an ROI, it wouldn't be so bad. To a camp ground owner its like one of those dreams where you try to run but you cant. Which is why we no longer advertise in a big way with Good Sam. We are no longer a Good Sam park.
Are all discounts created equal? No. Good Sam is a direct to customer advertising tool for campgrounds. The most powerful form of advertising is word of mouth.
A few years ago we used to give a AAA discount. One day we got a threatening letter from AAA saying we were not allowed to give the discount out, unless we paid AAA for the right to do so. Isn't that sweet? Not. Even worse than Good Sam when you think about it. AAA doesn't advertise for the campground either. (However, I REALLY like the AAA gold plus RV. It saved my hide one time. It was WELL worth it. Then again, Good Sam offers that same service too. But guess who they call? Yup, AAA. Just a hint here, Good Sam will not tow your rig. Only AAA will. So I would put my money on AAA. If you buy the AAA Gold Plus RV, it covers your cars, truck, RV, etc....)
So sure, the AAA customer earned a discount by paying for the service. Good Sam customers earned the discount by paying for the service. Where Triple R feels a real discount should be applied is for great personal sacrifice. How about a first responder? Running into the fire while everyone else is running out. Cutting people out of crushed cars. Our law enforcement. They selflessly put themselves in harms way every day. Catching people that have harmed us in many ways, sometimes in horrific scenes. How about dispatchers that are the first sense of calm someone hears when they are distraught enough to have to call 911. How about our Paramedics, EMT's CFR's. Literally saving life at a moments notice. Sometimes the only ones holding back death at car accidents, or many other kinds of scenarios. Or how about our military. All branches of our military give unbelievable sacrifices. Gone for months at a time. Not able to see their spouses or kids for months at a time. God Bless all these people.
At Triple R we believe in more than a 10% discount. Which is why we offer huge discounts to military, first responders, dispatchers, law enforcement. Some of these discounts are more than 50%. Sure, we don't offer it every weekend. But would you like to pay Good Sam $40 a year to get $10 off a weekend, or come to Triple R and get ~50% off a weekend?
Does that mean we don't appreciate anyone else? We appreciate everyone's business.
Lets look at other discounted stays. We do two First Responder weekends. One in May, the other in September. We also do a spring three week deal.
Here is the break down on some of the weekends: Remember, some weekends are considered in season, some are not. Hence the pricing differences.
Three week deal is occupying the site with your camper for 16 nights is $912 worth of site nights for $200. OR $342 worth of weekends for $200.
First Responder/Military deal is taking a $114 spring weekend or a $154 fall weekend and adjusts the rate to $60. (Not even showing the cabin discounts here too). These weekends are the weekend before Memorial Day Weekend and the weekend after Labor Day.
Thank you for your business. And in return for your business, there are huge discounted weekends to be had. We just ask for word of mouth support in return.
