Outdoor Hospitality: The RV Park Supply-Demand Imbalance

By David Bonaventura |
February 16, 2026

While legacy assets such as urban office towers and regional shopping malls grapple with the existential challenges of remote work and digital commerce, a historically fragmented and overlooked niche, outdoor hospitality, has emerged as a primary beneficiary of structural shifts in the American lifestyle. This sector is defined by a widening “scissor effect”: a dramatic surge in recreational vehicle (RV) ownership and camping participation against a supply pipeline that is historically constrained by regulatory, geographic, and economic barriers. For the sophisticated investor, the current landscape represents a unique window to capture alpha through the institutionalization of an asset class that offers higher yields, greater recession resilience, and more significant operational upside than traditional multifamily or industrial segments.

The evolution of the RV park from a basic “stopover” to a “lifestyle resort” is not merely a branding exercise but a response to a fundamental change in how Americans consume leisure. The convergence of digital nomadism, a heightened cultural emphasis on wellness and nature, and the democratization of RV ownership across younger, more affluent demographics has created a permanent elevation in the demand floor.

The Investment Thesis: A Structural Disconnect

The core thesis for the outdoor hospitality sector in 2025 rests on the reality that the US RV industry is entering a phase of stabilizing growth after the volatile pandemic-era boom, while the infrastructure to support these vehicles remains capacity-constrained.¹ The “supply gap” is the definitive characteristic of this market; whereas RV unit sales are projected to grow in the mid-single digits annually through the decade, new RV park supply is expanding at a mere 1% per annum.¹ This ensures that high-quality, stabilized assets will enjoy sustained occupancy and pricing power for the foreseeable future.¹

Why Vertical Integration Changes the NOI Equation

Blue Capital’s experience suggests that institutional advantage in RV parks is less about scale alone and more about control of operations, branding, and capital deployment speed. Through vertically integrated management and centralized systems, Blue Capital has shortened renovation timelines, reduced third-party expense leakage, and standardized pricing discipline across heterogeneous assets, unlocking NOI growth opportunities that fragmented ownership structures historically left unrealized.

Beyond national shipment data and participation statistics, Blue Capital’s owned and operated RV portfolio provides real-time confirmation of the structural supply-demand imbalance. Across parks acquired between 2023–2025, Blue Capital has consistently observed compressed booking windows paired with higher peak-season utilization, even in markets where broader lodging demand softened. This pattern reflects not speculative demand, but embedded behavioral shifts, repeat visitation, longer average stays, and increased preference for drive-to destinations over discretionary air travel.

Quantifying Demand: The 11 Million Household Shift

To understand the magnitude of the demand surge, one must look beyond the raw shipment data and analyze the shift in participation. As of early 2024, approximately 11 million more households were engaged in camping compared to 2019.⁷ Total camping households have grown by 67% since 2014, and by 2024, nearly 10 million households were actively using an RV for their travels.⁷

Vehicle Shipments as a Lead Indicator

The production and shipment of RVs serve as the most reliable lead indicator for campground occupancy. Despite economic headwinds such as elevated interest rates, the RV Industry Association (RVIA) reported that total shipments in 2024 reached 333,733 units, a 6.6% increase over 2023.⁹ Forecasts for 2025 indicate a continued upward trajectory, with total shipments expected to reach 342,220 units, reflecting a 2.5% growth rate.¹⁰

Data Sources: ⁹

The significant growth in Fifth Wheel shipments (21.6%) and Park Model RVs (9.6%) is particularly relevant for investors.¹⁰ These larger, often semi-permanent units require 50-amp full-hookup infrastructure and high-quality pads, further straining the inventory of “premium” sites which are already in short supply.¹

 

The Generational Transition

The demographic profile of the camper is undergoing a fundamental reset. Gen Z and Millennials now constitute 61% of all new campers.¹² This is not merely a quantitative change but a qualitative one, as these generations spend significantly more per day than their predecessors. In 2024, Gen Z campers spent an average of $266 per day, compared to just $134 for Baby Boomers.¹² This higher spending is driven by a preference for private campgrounds and glamping resorts that offer a wide array of amenities and services.⁷

 

Data Sources: ⁷

This generational shift ensures long-term viability for the asset class. As younger households enter their peak earning years, their affinity for “lifestyle-driven” RV resorts will continue to fuel demand for high-end properties that provide both a connection to nature and the digital connectivity required for remote work.⁴

The Supply Chokehold: Barriers to Entry

While demand has hit record levels, the supply side remains stubbornly stagnant. The United States has approximately 16,200 privately owned parks with 1.3 million campsites, but this figure has grown only gradually.¹ The “supply gap” is protected by three primary pillars: regulatory hurdles, infrastructure costs, and social opposition.

The Zoning and Permitting Maze

Before a new RV park can break ground, it must navigate a complex maze of local zoning and land-use regulations. Many municipalities lack specific designations for modern RV resorts, often grouping them with mobile home parks or rustic campgrounds, which creates friction during the approval process.¹⁵ Environmental regulations regarding wastewater management, well water permits, and impact on local wetlands can add years to the development timeline and tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees.¹⁵

In one illustrative case, a proposed RV park in Edgefield County, South Carolina, was denied despite complying with many local ordinances because of the parcel’s steep slopes and potential impact on water quality and flood prevention.¹⁶ This highlights the reality that even “developer-friendly” regions have high bars for site suitability, effectively limiting the locations where new competition can emerge.

The NIMBYism Moat

NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) attitudes represent a universal roadblock to supply expansion. Local residents frequently object to new developments due to fears of declining property values, increased traffic, or changes to community character, even when these fears are factually unsupported.¹⁵ Public hearings can put immense pressure on elected officials to reject projects that are otherwise compliant with zoning laws, resulting in a lack of new housing and leisure supply to meet the growing demand.¹⁷ For current owners, this NIMBYism serves as a powerful “gilded moat,” protecting their market share and pricing power from new entrants.⁴

Infrastructure Obsolescence

A significant portion of the existing supply is composed of aging parks built in the 1970s and 1980s. These facilities were designed for smaller, less power-intensive vehicles and often lack the 50-amp electrical service, large pads, and high-speed Wi-Fi required by modern travelers.¹¹ Upgrading this infrastructure is capital-intensive and often limited by the capacity of local utility grids. Consequently, while the nominal supply of campsites may seem large, the effective supply of high-quality sites that meet current consumer expectations is even tighter than the data suggests.¹

Interpretation: The Economics of Scarcity

The intersection of these supply and demand forces creates a highly favorable economic environment for park owners. Unlike traditional hotels, which face high operational overhead and constant pressure from new inventory, RV parks benefit from a “trade-down” effect during economic downturns. RV vacations can be 25-60% cheaper than flights and hotels, making the sector relatively recession-resilient.¹ When budgets tighten, families do not stop traveling; they simply shift their spending from expensive international resorts to local or regional RV parks.²

Occupancy and Pricing Power

National surveys indicate that average annual occupancy for RV parks hovers between 60-70%, with many parks reaching 100% capacity during prime seasons.² This “campsite crunch” allows operators to exercise significant pricing power. For instance, major operators like KOA have reported surges in advance reservations even as they raise rates.¹ The RoverPass Annual Report notes that while some softening occurred in 2024, total reservations still grew by 5%, with 1 in 3 reservations coming from a first-time camper.²⁰

Revenue Per Available Site (RevPAS) Optimization

The metric of choice for sophisticated operators is RevPAS (Revenue Per Available Site). To maximize this, institutional owners are implementing strategies beyond simple pad rentals:

  • Add-on Sales: Purchases of firewood, gear rentals, and guided experiences rose 66% in 2024.²⁰
  • Alternative Accommodations: Diversifying into glamping units, cabins, and tiny homes allows parks to attract non-RV owners. Currently, only 3.6% of private parks offer glamping, representing a massive untapped opportunity for expansion.³

Within Blue Capital’s portfolio, non-pad revenue has emerged as a meaningful contributor to total site economics. Across stabilized assets, management has observed material growth in ancillary revenue per occupied site, driven by bundled utility recovery, premium Wi-Fi tiers, extended-stay add-ons, and upgraded accommodation types. Importantly, these revenue streams tend to scale with occupancy but carry lower marginal cost, creating operating leverage absent in traditional hospitality models.

Practical Implications for Investors

The investment thesis for the RV park sector is categorized into three primary execution strategies: Acquisition, Value-Add, and Residential Integration.

Strategy 1: The Institutional Consolidation Play

With 88% of the market still in the hands of independent owners, there is a significant opportunity for institutional capital to aggregate smaller properties into larger portfolios.³ By centralizing management, marketing, and reservation systems, investors can drive down costs and improve the guest experience. Sun Communities (SUI) serves as a benchmark for this strategy, having grown from 24 communities at its 1993 IPO to over 650 properties today.²²

Strategy 2: The Infrastructure Value-Add

Investors should target well-located but under-managed properties that require infrastructure upgrades. Increasing electrical service to 50-amp, installing fiber-fed Wi-Fi, and adding premium amenities like dog parks or work-from-anywhere zones can allow for immediate rent increases.¹⁴ As the “Roaming Resident” (remote worker) segment grows, these digital and physical upgrades are no longer luxuries but essential components of property value.¹⁴

Strategy 3: Transient-to-Annual Conversions

To de-risk portfolios, operators are increasingly converting transient (nightly) sites to annual (long-term) leases. Annual sites provide predictable, recurring revenue with significantly lower maintenance and marketing costs. For example, Sun Communities has converted approximately 9,800 transient sites to annual sites since 2020, boosting the stability of their cash flow.²² This strategy essentially transforms a hospitality asset into a quasi-residential asset, similar to a manufactured home community (MHC).⁶

Blue Capital’s experience indicates that optimal portfolio construction rarely involves full conversion to annual-only tenancy. Instead, the most resilient cash-flow profiles emerge from intentionally blended demand, where annual residents stabilize baseline NOI while a controlled allocation of transient and premium sites preserves upside during peak seasons. This hybrid model allows operators to dynamically respond to regional demand cycles without overexposing the asset to tourism volatility.

Comparative Analysis: RV Parks vs. Manufactured Housing

While often grouped together by brokers, RV parks and MHCs offer different risk-reward profiles. MHCs provide extreme stability with long-term residents and low management intensity, but they often have lower cap rates (5-6%).²⁴ RV parks, by contrast, offer higher yields (8-12%) and significant upside during peak seasons but require more active management and are more sensitive to tourism trends.¹⁹

 

Data Sources: ¹⁹

The “sweet spot” for many institutional investors is the hybrid park, which blends long-term annual RV sites with a smaller portion of high-margin transient sites and glamping units.³

Regional Hotspots and Future Catalysts

Geography is a critical determinant of success. Approximately 50% of all RV facilities are located in the South, where climate and tourism demand are strongest.³ Texas (3,000+ parks) and Florida (1,000+ parks) remain the primary targets for large-scale investment.¹

While Texas and Florida remain capital magnets, Blue Capital’s acquisition experience highlights that proximity to drive-time population centers, state parks, and interstate corridors often outweighs headline tourism markets. Secondary and tertiary locations with limited competing supply have demonstrated stronger rate growth persistence and lower seasonality risk than heavily saturated destination markets.

Macro-Event Convergence

The year 2026 will also see a unique convergence of travel-heavy events, including the FIFA World Cup and the 250th anniversary of the United States (America 250).¹⁰ These events will drive both domestic and international visitors into the US interior, further straining the limited supply of high-quality outdoor hospitality sites.¹⁰

Case Studies in Institutional Success: ELS and SUI

The performance of major REITs provides a blueprint for what is possible at scale.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS)

In 2024, ELS reported total revenue of $1.389 billion, a 4.4% increase from 2023.⁵ Their core RV and marina rental income increased by 6.5%, driven by strong demand and effective management.³¹ Most notably, ELS maintained a 95% occupancy level in their manufactured housing communities while successfully developing new sites adjacent to existing ones.⁵

Sun Communities (SUI)

SUI has achieved an adjusted blended occupancy for their North American MH and RV portfolio of 99.0%, representing a 160 basis point year-over-year increase.⁶ Their strategy focuses on converting transient sites to annual sites to increase the contribution from stable income streams.³² Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, SUI raised its 2025 North American Same Property NOI growth guidance to a range of 4.6% – 5.6%, reflecting the underlying strength of the asset class.²²

Conclusion: The Structural Alpha Window

From Blue Capital’s perspective as an active owner-operator, the RV park sector’s structural alpha is not derived from macro timing alone, but from disciplined execution within a supply-constrained ecosystem, where infrastructure, operations, and resident experience intersect to create durable, compounding value.

The outdoor hospitality sector is currently in the middle of a multi-year transition from an overlooked “fringe” asset class to a core component of the lifestyle real estate portfolio. The supply-demand imbalance is not a temporary glitch but a structural feature of the market. While record-high RV ownership and a generational shift toward nature-based travel provide a robust demand foundation, the formidable “regulatory moat” of zoning and NIMBYism ensures that new supply remains constrained.

For the sophisticated investor, the opportunity lies in the “middle market”, the $1 million to $10 million segment, where mom-and-pop operators are looking for exit strategies and institutional management techniques have yet to be applied.⁴ By focusing on infrastructure upgrades, transient-to-annual conversions, and the integration of modern technology, investors can capture significant alpha in an asset class that is as recession-resilient as it is profitable. As the world moves toward the historic milestones of 2026, those who have secured and optimized sites within the limited-supply ecosystem of outdoor hospitality will be best positioned to reap the rewards of the Great American Road Trip’s revival.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the most critical amenity for an RV park in 2025?

High-speed, fiber-fed Wi-Fi and 50-amp electrical service are no longer optional. 48% of campers consider Wi-Fi the most important amenity when choosing a site, particularly as 46% of campers now work remotely during their trips.¹²

2. How do RV parks perform during a recession?

RV parks are considered “recession-resilient” due to the trade-down effect. Because RV vacations are 25-60% cheaper than traditional travel involving flights and hotels, budget-conscious travelers prioritize campgrounds over expensive resorts during lean times.¹

3. What are the typical cap rates for RV resorts?

Well-maintained parks in stable secondary markets typically range from 7-8%, while value-add or tertiary market parks can see cap rates of 9% or higher.

4. Is the supply gap expected to close by 2030?

No. New RV park supply is only growing at approximately 1% annually, while demand for RV travel is projected to grow in the mid-single digits. Zoning, permitting, and NIMBYism create a multi-year barrier that prevents rapid supply expansion.¹

5. Why is the 2026 Route 66 Centennial important for investors?

The Centennial is expected to draw 41% of U.S. adults to the Route 66 corridor. This surge in demand, coupled with millions of dollars in state grants to upgrade local infrastructure, will drive record-high nightly rates and occupancy for parks located along the historic alignment.²⁷

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