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The Campnab Blog

Are Your Parks Listed on Campnab?

Posted Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Eric Karjaluoto

Eric Karjaluoto

I’m one of the two people working on Campnab. I like to run, ski, bike, and camp with my family and friends. (I love saunas.)

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This post isn’t for you unless you work within a state, provincial, or county park. However, if you do work in that capacity, this post is TOTALLY for you. In it, I’m going to explain why Campnab might be a great (silent) partner for your organization.

The problem all parks face

The same camping story airs on the news each spring. Would-be campers are upset that they can’t book a campsite for their summer vacation. They were online right when bookings opened—but every spot was gone before they could get one.

This story isn’t new to you. I know this because I’ve talked to your counterparts at other parks. You’re all too aware of the increasing demand for campsites—and you know that some booked campsites still go unused.

Campnab is one answer to this problem

At Campnab we try to fix this problem. Our service scans sold-out parks for cancelations. When a campsite opens up, it sends interested campers a notification. Our service scans over 300,000 campsites at 7,000 campgrounds in 3,200 parks. We’ve been at this since 2017. In that time, our app has sent over 1.4 million alerts.

Want to know more? Here’s our story: 

Since Day 1, we’ve tried to make camping more accessible to those who feel left out. That’s why we don’t hold or book campsite reservations. All we do is notify people when spots come available—so they don’t have to hit Refresh all day long. (Members pay to use our service, which helps cover our technology costs and ongoing development.)

Campers get a second-chance

Those who lose out on opening-morning reservations are understandably frustrated. They were on time and ready to book. Yet, they found a sea of red blocks—indicating only reserved campsites. Their planned trip might be a family tradition, cross-country journey, or the culmination of a life-long dream.

Others are less prepared. They didn’t know that bookings opened up four months in advance and just wanted a weekend away for their family. They thought camping could still be a spontaneous adventure, like when they were young.

In both of these circumstances, Campnab offers hope. These campers might create a scan months in advance and wait until something suitable comes available. Or, they might start scanning a few days before the weekend and snap up a last-minute availability.

How your park benefits from Campnab

Some folks get anxious and book more campsites than they need. Others’ plans change, and they can’t make use of the spots they booked. They might cancel their stay or not show up. In either event, other people miss out on these camping opportunities.

By listing your park on Campnab, you increase utilization. You open up new opportunities for eager campers to visit your campground. These visits increase revenue for your park, as campsites that might otherwise go unused can now be rebooked.

All of this comes at no cost to your park board. There’s no added technology for you to manage, nor expenses to deliver alerts to campers. We cover all of that. We also offer personalized support to Campnab members. As a result, your agents don’t have any added phone calls to field.

I should also note that Campnab can reduce the load on your booking system. Our campsite monitoring service groups similar scans together. So, instead of having dozens of people hit Refresh independently, their searches are batched. We also stagger scans and require each member to select specific dates and campgrounds to minimize server demand.

Would you like to partner with us?

We frequently receive requests from campers wanting us to add scanning for campgrounds they frequent. That said, we can’t act on all of these requests. Each integration takes time, and some booking systems are more challenging than others to integrate.

We’re looking to create lasting partnerships with parks worldwide. We welcome a conversation if you believe that campers in your region would benefit from campsite availability notifications. Contact us by email with your name, the park board you represent, your contact information, and the booking system you use. We’ll then assess whether we can integrate with your booking system and schedule a call to discuss working together.

Thank you for reading the above and for your interest in Campnab. We love getting people outside to experience nature. We’re keen to work with you to help campers in your region do the same. 🙌

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