April 25, 2017 by Woodall's Campground Management - Year-to-date revenues were up 25% at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts across the U.S. and Canada during the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period last year, according to the company that serves as franchisor of the family friendly camping resorts.

 

“The growth is fueled by the addition of six locations to the franchise in 2016, plus the expansion of several existing locations for this season. In fact, same-park sales were up 19% during the first quarter,” said Jim Westover, vice president of operations for Leisure Systems Inc. (LSI).

 

Total system occupancies were up 18.6%, while same-park occupancies were up 10.8%.

 

Milford, Ohio-based LSI is franchisor to 80 Jellystone Parks with more than 17,000 campsites and vacation rentals across the U.S. and Canada, and the company plans to expand to more than 100 parks in the next five years.

 

LSI’s growing sales and profitability landed the Jellystone Park franchisor a spot in Entrepreneur magazine’s latest Franchise 500 listing, ranking 472 for its exceptional performance across several areas, including financial strength and stability, growth rate and brand power.

 

“Our inclusion in the Franchise 500 not only reflects the growing financial strength of the Jellystone Park franchise system, but rising consumer and investor awareness of Jellystone Parks as the family camping venue of choice across North America,” Westover said in the announcement.

 

LSI is bullish on 2017 because of the strong performance of Jellystone Park franchises so early in the year.

 

“Advance reservations at some of our parks are up 75% over last year’s figures, so the outlook is very good,” Westover said. In fact, he continued, “2016 was our best year ever with $108 million in sales and we are on pace to exceed that.”

 

He attributes the revenue and occupancy growth to the continuing addition of water play parks and furnished rental cabins, which enable the campground network to broaden its market base beyond RV and tent campers.

 

The growth is also being fueled by the increasing popularity of Jellystone Parks in general, which are famous for providing organized family activities and themed weekends. Locations in Cave City, Ky. and Burleson, Texas, are undergoing major expansions, adding 300 sites and 50 cabins between the two of them.

 

For more information about Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada please click the link below.