The link (which also lets you see reader's comments on the article)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/campgro...=hp_lead_pos11
Campsites Are Fully Booked. They’re Also Half-Empty.
Campers frustrated by limited availability have prompted states to tighten reservation rules for no-shows
Rising interest in camping means prime sites are selling out across the country. So why do so many campsites sit empty on peak nights?
Online booking and cancellation fees mean there is little to gain in letting parks know you’re a no-show, campers say. Travelers who make multiple bookings before their plans are set, combined with weather events that reduce availability, make it seem harder than ever to find space.
Travelers looking to pitch their tents or park their RVs at beach campsites in California and lakeside spots in Minnesota are feeling this crunch. Short of showing up in person in hopes of a perfectly timed cancellation coming through, campers are often out of luck.
Dana Andresen, from Ventura, Calif., camps between six and eight months out of the year and says no-shows are common. “It’s been kind of shocking how many empty sites I see when I’m being told there’s nothing,” she says.
Andresen works for Naturalists at Large, an outdoor education company that takes California students on camping trips across the state. No-shows take spots away from people like her students, she says, many of whom are camping for the first time or even spending their first nights away from home.
At times, students have crowded into campsites, unable to spread into nearby empty ones because they don’t know whether anyone will show up, she says.
A California State Parks spokesman says the department gives priority to equitable access, but high demand often exceeds available inventory. He says the department works to make no-show sites available as soon as is appropriate.
The number of people who want to camp has jumped since the pandemic began, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group. It says that in 2022, 51.4 million people camped in the U.S.
States are responding to complaints over no-shows, making changes at campgrounds across the country. Minnesota started enforcing its no-show policy this spring after grumbling from campers. Proposed legislation in California would penalize those who bail on their spots.
“What we’re trying to do is ensure people actually show up to their reservation or cancel,” says Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a California assemblymember representing parts of the Bay Area, who introduced a bill aiming to deter last-minute cancellations and no-shows in state parks.
Online pros and cons
Many public campgrounds have moved reservations online, which campsite managers say helps with staffing. Reservations also help reassure visitors that they will have a spot, unlike first-come, first-served campsites.
No-shows are difficult to track because not all campsites are staffed at check-in or checkout. But complaints about no-shows have increased, several state park officials say.
No-show policies vary widely by state, says Sascha Ohler, senior vice president for outdoor recreation at Tyler Technologies. The company provides online reservation software for state campground sites, including those serving Ohio and Florida.
In some cases, campsite managers can’t release spots until the morning after the no-show visitor’s scheduled arrival date to accommodate anyone having problems reaching the site. Campsite hosts say this means they have to deal with angry customers who don’t understand why they can’t immediately claim a campsite that appears to be empty.
No-shows complicate plans for both local and out-of-town campers, says Chris Wolstenholme, owner of Around the Park RV Rentals, a rental agency in Denver and Jackson Hole, Wyo.
He says many campgrounds often have little cellphone or internet reception, so it can be difficult for staffers to update campsite availability quickly.
California proposes tougher measures
Fees can deter visitors from canceling. Campground managers say fees are necessary to deter people from hoarding bookings they have no intention of using.
For California State Parks, which offers about 15,000 overnight camping sites, campers are charged $8 to cancel and lose the $8 nonrefundable reservation fee. If they cancel after 6 p.m. the day before arrival, they also lose the cost of one night’s stay, which could be $10 or $75, depending on the site.
Some people do the math and don’t bother canceling, says Bauer-Kahan, who introduced the legislation. Others forget about their reservations made months earlier.
The proposed legislation would eliminate the cancellation fee. It would convert any cancellations made within seven days of the reservation’s start date into a credit that could be used to make a reservation in the next five years.
It would also increase penalties for those who don’t cancel and don’t show, meaning they wouldn’t get refunds or credits. People who don’t show up three times in a calendar year will be limited in making future reservations.
A spokesman says California State Parks doesn’t comment on pending legislation.
Campers at most California state sites can only make online reservations up to two days before arrival, so no-shows don’t appear on the reservation site in time for last-minute campers. The bill would require availability to update in real time.
The California bill is making its way through the legislature, and recently passed the state’s assembly with overwhelming support.
Campground changes
Wyoming had success eliminating cancellation fees, says Nick Neylon, the state parks deputy director. State campsites implemented a stricter no-show policy in 2021. No-shows are down 81% so far in 2023 compared with last year, he says.
He also credits more severe penalties for repeated no-shows. On the third offense, campers’ reservations are canceled for the remainder of the season. On the fourth offense, they lose the ability to make any reservations for the year.
Neylon says the state has only had to use that final option a couple of times.
Representatives from Recreation.gov, which lets people reserve campsites on federal lands, say they also have noticed an increase in no-show complaints. Campers previously received one email reminder seven days before their reservation. Now, to help people remember to cancel, the system sends four email reminders, including one as early as three months ahead and another two days before arrival.
Linear Mode
