by Matthew J. Klas
Recreational vehicle owners love casinos. From a simple space in a parking lot to a full park with hookups and amenities, many casinos offer RV owners a safe location with entertainment and dining to enjoy for a couple of nights. In return, the casino receives incremental revenues from RV customers spending the night near the gaming operation.
The symbiotic relationship between casinos and RV campers can be found across North America. Casino Camper, an internet database of RV friendly casinos, has over 450 listings in the United States and Canada. Within the U.S., RV sites and amenities are particularly common at Indian casinos. Many tribes capitalize on their locations and existing resort and casino operations to offer attractive RV services to campers. There are currently 177 tribally-owned RV parks in the U.S., including 108 parks associated with a casino and 69 standalone RV parks. The RV parks associated with casinos feature approximately 6,700 camping sites for RVs and can be found in 24 different states. Table 1 presents a summary of RV parks at Indian casinos by state.
Table 1
California has the greatest number of RV parks and daily RV spaces at Indian casinos, with 14 properties and more than 1,100 spaces. At the same time, Arizona, with only eight Indian casino-affiliated RV parks, has the second largest number of RV sites at Indian casinos with over 1,000 daily sites – not including approximately 1,000 extended stay sites.
On a national basis, RV parks at Indian casinos have an average of 61.6 sites per complex, an average of 19.1 gaming positions per RV site and an average rate of $42.09 per night. Rates for RV park sites range from less than ten dollars to more than one hundred dollars per night.
In addition to RV spaces, parks affiliated with Indian casinos offer a broad array of services and amenities. As presented in Table 2, an estimated 84 percent of sites feature full hook-ups (water, electric and sewer), 11 percent are water/electric, 4 percent are electric only and 2 percent offer no hook ups. By type of RV site pad, approximately 75 percent are paved, 3 percent are grass, 18 percent are gravel and 2 percent are dirt. In addition, approximately 46 percent of all RV sites are pull-thru, as opposed to back-in, which is important to RV guests with bigger rigs. Approximately 66 percent of all RV parks affiliated with Indian casinos are located directly at the tribal gaming operation. The remainder are located near the casino, but potentially too far for a convenient walk. Over 34 percent of the RV parks offer shuttle service to the casino – an especially important amenity for parks further away from the gaming floor.
Table 2
Approximately 70 percent of casino-affiliated RV parks are open year-round. In order to better accommodate potential overnight casino guests, 25 percent of casino-affiliated RV parks limit the number of consecutive overnight RV stays and 58 percent do not allow tent camping. Approximately 76 percent offer Wi-Fi (an increasingly important feature for many campers), while half have dump stations. In addition to daily sites, 12 percent of the RV parks offer extended stay sites and almost a quarter of the RV parks offer overnight camping alternatives, including cabins, cottages, yurts and glamping.
Indian casino-affiliated RV parks commonly have their own dedicated on-site facilities, and many offer the casino’s resort amenities to RV campers. Just over half offer swimming pools, 42 percent have hot tubs, 30 percent have fitness centers, 26 percent have playgrounds, 48 percent have club houses, 69 percent have restrooms and showers and 65 percent offer guest laundry facilities. In addition, approximately 36 percent have on-site stores that often serve as check-in for the RV park.
Many Indian casinos accommodate RV overnight guests in their large parking lots. RV campers appreciate the location and convenience of casino parking lots and frequently take advantage of the food and beverage and gaming offerings at the hosting casino. Approximately 30 percent of Indian casinos nationwide offer RV parking areas in their existing lots. Often, overnight RV guests are required to check in and sign up for a casino players club. While some casinos charge campers to use the lot, and occasionally hook-ups or other amenities are provided, most casinos simply offer an unadorned parking space for free.
Associating RV parks with casinos has been a successful formula for many tribes, but there are also a number of tribally-owned RV parks that are not connected with any gaming facility. There are 69 of these standalone RV parks across 21 states, as shown in Table 3. The average nightly rate is approximately the same as charged at casino-affiliated grounds. However, the average capacity of these standalone parks is smaller than that of RV parks associated with casinos.
Table 3
Tribally-owned RV parks, both at Indian casinos and standalone, are some of the nicest in the country. Good Sam Club, an organization of RV owners, provides on-site reviews and ratings of thousands of RV parks, campgrounds and resorts across the U.S. and Canada. The 10-point rating system evaluates the parks across three categories: completeness of facilities, cleanliness of restrooms and showers and visual appeal and environmental quality. There are currently only 177 RV parks and campgrounds awarded a perfect 10/10/10 rating, including 23 tribal-owned RV parks, 21 of which are affiliated with Indian casinos. Tribally-owned RV properties receiving the Good Sam 10/10/10 rating are shown in Table 4. The parks highlighted in green are 10/10*/10+ rated campgrounds, which “have exceeded the expectations” of the established rating system and are in an elite category according to Good Sam.
Table 4
The market for recreational vehicles has been somewhat volatile in recent years. RV sales saw a resurgence in the early years of the pandemic, driven by demand from new customers and returning owners who saw RV camping as a safe, enjoyable option compared to crowded destinations and busy airports. According to the RV Industry Association, RV unit wholesale shipments declined year-over-year in 2018 and 2019 before rising 6 percent in 2020. The industry had a record year in 2021 with shipments up 40 percent. However, 2022 and 2023 saw decreases in shipments of 17.8 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Indeed, shipments in 2023 were the lowest in a decade. Figure 1 shows the year-over-year changes in RV unit wholesale shipments over the past ten years.
Figure 1
Fortunately for the industry, shipments appear to have stabilized. In the first eight months of 2024, shipments were 8.6 percent higher than the same period in 2023. This is encouraging news for the many tribes investing in RV parks and amenities. Consistent facility maintenance and cost-effective marketing will be important to ensure that these facilities maintain their competitive position in the
coming years.
Matthew J. Klas is a Senior Associate with KlasRobinson Q.E.D., a national consulting firm specializing in the feasibility and economic impact of casinos, hotels, and other related ancillary developments in Indian Country. He can be reached by calling (800) 475-8140 or email [email protected].