KOA Announces All Locations Now on K2 Reservation System
All 520 KOA campground locations are now operating on Kampgrounds of America’s proprietary reservation management system
KOA NEWS SERVICE (Mar. 31, 2021) – Kampgrounds of America Inc. reached a major milestone the evening of Sunday, March 28 when the final three campgrounds were added to KOA’s innovative K2 reservation management system.
“I want to congratulate our KOA technology team on this monumental achievement,” said KOA President & CEO Toby O’Rourke. “The development and launch of K2 have been several years in the making, and now all KOA campgrounds have been transitioned to the new K2 system. I appreciate our team’s diligence, focus, long hours and grit in not only building a formidable software, but in bringing our entire organization on board.”
Andy Metroka, KOA Vice President of Information Services, said all 520 KOA locations are now on a single operating system for the first time in several years.
“It’s a huge benefit that we no longer have to support two systems,” Metroka said. “Now everyone is on the same modern system and we can all move forward together.”
Kampgrounds of America Inc. was the first outdoor company to offer campers a real-time reservation system prior to 2010 with its original KampSight software. The new cloud-based K2 system adds several new features that Metroka said brings it to the front of the class of campground reservation platforms.
“If you look across the camping industry, there are a couple dozen reservation management systems targeting campgrounds,” he said. “K2 and the KOA technology suite offers robust functionality for owners and operators that holds a leading position in the marketplace.”
Metroka pointed out that KOA’s K2 software was developed with constant input from KOA campground owners and operators to make sure it was meeting their needs and did not forgo core functionality at the expense of adding “bells and whistles.”
Training KOA owners and front desk staff on the new K2 system is quick and easy, and utilizes a series of video training modules that walk users through every step from setup to use of every K2 feature.
“KOA is unique in that it has decades of rich, on-the-ground experience regarding what campgrounds really need and use to manage and operate their campgrounds,” Metroka said. “We make sure that what we provide meets these needs. This experience has given us the ability to focus on the features and functionalities that really make a difference.”
KOA began transitioning parks to the K2 software in 2017, when the first 8 campgrounds were added. By 2018, the number of K2 parks had grown to 90 “early adopters,” and the number jumped to 275 (more than half of the KOA system) by the end of 2019. The development of additional K2 features continued at a rapid pace even as more campgrounds continued to adopt the system.
COVID-19 slowed migration progress in 2020, but Metroka said the transitioning of campgrounds to the K2 system never stopped. By the end of last year, 465 campgrounds were on K2. The remaining campgrounds were added during the first quarter of 2021.
“The K2 reservation management system has completed millions of transactions a year for the past two years,” Metroka said. “It’s been stress tested, and it works.”
Curt Moldenhauer, who owns two KOA campgrounds in Bear Lake, Utah as well as the Rock Springs/Green River KOA Journey in Wyoming and the Winthrop/North Cascades National Park KOA Holiday in Washington, said the K2 system gives him a huge leg up on his competition.
“We’ve just loved being on K2,” he said. “It has a wonderful booking chart that we use all day, every day. There are just so many K2 reports that are key to us running our campgrounds successfully. I like that I can use the reports to get right down to the individual site level, because we are always striving to make our worst site our best site. And the fact that I can manage all four of my campgrounds’ data from one place is fantastic.”
The booking chart is a major feature of the K2 Reservation System, allowing owners and their staff to quickly and efficiently move site reservations, filter pricing groups, manage discount programs, swap sites, and easily keep track of the site inventory on their entire park.
The K2 system also generates a plethora of useful data and reports that all KOA owners can use daily to better manage their campgrounds including detailed occupancy reports, year-to-year reservation comparisons, site-type performance, revenue management, a detailed income analysis of all facets of a campground’s operation, and camp store sales to name just a few.
The data generated by the K2 reservation system is also used by Kampgrounds of America’s team of business development consultants to help campgrounds improve their businesses by closely evaluating occupation history, site revenue, and performance per camper night. The KOA business development consultants also use the K2 data to help owners develop their business plans and campground improvements.
Metroka said his technology team is continuously working on new K2 system features, and KOA owners and operators can expect an even more robust system in coming months.
“The development of the K2 reservation system is far from a one-and-done project,” he said. “Our team is working right now on features that will further optimize campground occupancy and add more functions that will increase the efficiency of our owner’s daily operations.”
About Kampgrounds of America:
Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA) is the world’s largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds with 525 locations across the U.S. and Canada united under the mission of “connecting people to the outdoors and each other.” The industry leader in outdoor hospitality, KOA’s family of campground brands – KOA Journey, KOA Holiday and KOA Resort – offer sites and amenities designed for every type of camping experience. The company was founded in 1962 in Billings, Mont., and today serves more than a million camping families each year, who rely on the standards of excellence and unique outdoor adventures KOA is known for. For more information, visit KOA.com.