In the latest episode of The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast, Sage founder Shari Heilala sits down with two of the most respected operators in the industry, Mike Harrison, COO of CRR Hospitality, and Wendy Heineke of Hospitality Across America, to bust some of the most persistent myths in glamping, RV resort, and outdoor hospitality development.
This isn’t a conversation about chasing trends or marketing taglines. It’s a candid, practitioner-led look at where developers, investors, and operators consistently get it wrong, and what the data and operational reality actually say.
A Beautiful Property Isn’t Enough
The first myth on the chopping block: a great-looking property is enough to drive bookings.
Beauty might earn the first reservation, but it doesn’t earn the second. Repeat guests come from operations, consistency, hospitality, and the experience inside the unit, not the photo on the listing. As Mike puts it, the developer delivers the shell, but the operator delivers the interaction.
A property has to evoke emotion. Without that, even the most stunning site plan can feel hollow.
“If You Build It, They Will Come” Is Officially Over
The COVID-era ramp curve is gone. New properties today require longer stabilization timelines and meaningful pre-opening marketing investment, especially in an industry where distribution is fragmented across dozens of platforms and no single OTA dominates.
Guests have decades-long booking habits. Breaking them takes work. Mike and Wendy both stressed that under-investing in marketing and brand awareness is one of the most common reasons new properties stall, even when the physical product is excellent.
Glamping Isn’t a Trend
Every major industry report continues to show glamping as the fastest-growing segment of outdoor hospitality. Major hotel brands, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Best Western, have all entered the space, and institutional capital is beginning to follow.
Glamping has evolved well beyond three yurts on a hillside. It now spans amenitized outdoor hotels, hybrid RV/glamping resorts, and luxury landscape stays. The segment is here to stay, even as the terminology continues to evolve.
Recession-Proof? Not Quite
This is one of the more nuanced myths in the episode. Outdoor hospitality is recession-resistant in segments, but it’s not recession-proof.
The industry is working through its first true post-COVID cycle, with new supply absorbing, softening transient demand, fuel and tariff headwinds, and a pullback in Canadian travel. Guest behavior is shifting toward drive-to trips, shorter distances, and trade-down patterns on site type and rate.
The takeaway: understand your segment, your guest, and your cost structure. Blanket statements about the industry’s resilience don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Glamping Guests Aren’t Just Millennials
The demographic is far more diverse than the Instagram stereotype suggests. Glamping guests skew toward Gen X and Millennials, but families, couples, and older travelers all make up significant share. Positioning, amenities, and location all shape the target guest profile.
A well-designed property serves more than one audience, and the data backs it up.
You Can’t Cost-Cut Your Way Into Feasibility
If a project isn’t penciling, cutting construction costs or trimming unit count isn’t always the answer. In many cases, it makes the problem worse.
Revenue-generating units cover fixed amenity and infrastructure costs. Cut the units, keep the amenities, and the pro forma usually breaks. The right exercise is a deeper look at unit mix, ROI per unit type, and whether the original concept is appropriately scaled to its market.
The hardest part, as Mike noted, is separating passion from data. Numbers tell the truth when developers are willing to listen.
Set It and Forget It Pricing Is Costing You Money
Dynamic pricing is now table stakes. Weekday vs. weekend, shoulder vs. peak, holidays, event dates, even annual site rates should flex with demand.
Most PMS platforms now offer dynamic pricing tools. The properties leaving money on the table are the ones not using them. And revenue management isn’t just for transient parks, long-term and annual sites deserve the same demand-based discipline.
It Doesn’t Run Itself Once It’s Built
This is where many operator calls originate. Investors assume the property will run itself, then discover that hospitality is a live operation with daily complexity: SOPs, onboarding, staffing, revenue management, guest experience, deferred maintenance.
The properties that operate well are the ones with systems. The ones that struggle are the ones relying on the owner to hold everything together.
OTAs Don’t Handle Your Marketing
Online booking platforms distribute to a specific slice of the customer base, and they take 15 to 25 percent for the privilege. They are not a substitute for direct marketing, local outreach, or a strong website.
Even franchise and brand-affiliated properties still need to do local marketing. National brand awareness doesn’t reach the construction crew, the solar farm contractor, or the local chamber. Direct bookings are where the margin lives.
Five-Star Reviews Are One KPI, Not the Whole Picture
A strong rating helps, but it’s only one indicator. Reviews don’t capture operational performance, financial health, or guest sentiment at scale. And the three- and four-star reviews often hold more actionable insight than the five-stars do.
Operational audits, mystery guest programs, and secret shopping all provide a fuller picture of how a property actually performs.
Small vs. Large: Not Easier, Just Different
The final myth is one Mike and Wendy intentionally didn’t fully bust. Small resorts have less complexity but less margin for error and thinner staffing depth. Large resorts have more complexity but more resources and more revenue to absorb mistakes.
Profitability follows the same logic. Margin percentage often favors smaller, simpler operations. Total dollars almost always favor larger ones. Every property has to be underwritten on its own merits.
Why This Episode Matters
For developers, investors, and operators navigating a market that’s no longer riding the COVID tailwind, this conversation is a useful reset. The fundamentals matter again. Data matters. Operations matter. And the myths that drove a lot of 2021 and 2022 decision-making don’t hold up in today’s environment.
Mike Harrison can be reached at crrhospitality.com. Wendy Heineke can be reached at hospitalityacrossamerica.com.
Podcast Partners & Resources
This episode is powered by Sage Outdoor Advisory, the industry leaders in outdoor hospitality feasibility studies and appraisals.