How to Create a New Season for Your Campground

Setting up seasons for your campground is essential for managing booking schedules, pricing, and availability throughout the year. This guide walks you through creating a new season in your campground management system.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that your user account has campground administrator privileges. Only administrators can access the settings required to create new seasons.

Getting Started

Step 1: Access Season Settings

1. Navigate to your Dashboard
2. Click on the Settings tab (visible only to campground administrators)
3. Look for the Financial Settings section
4. Click on “Seasons and Pricing”

Step 2: Review Previous Seasons (Optional)

Before creating a new season, you may want to review how previous seasons were configured:

• Click on any existing season from previous years
• Review the first check-in and last check-in dates
• Note the booking start dates for reference
• Return to the main seasons page when ready

Creating Your New Season

Step 3: Set Up Basic Season Information

Season Name

• For campgrounds with one season per year, simply name it by the year (e.g., “2023”)
• If you operate multiple seasons (shoulder seasons with different pricing), create descriptive names for each period

Season Length Configuration

• First Check-in Date: Select when guests can first check into your campground for the season
• Last Check-in Date: Choose the final date guests can check in (typically one day before you want the season to end)
• The system automatically calculates the last checkout date as one day after the last check-in date

Example Timeline:

• First check-in: May 19th (Friday of May long weekend)
• Last check-in: September 29th
• Last checkout: September 30th (automatically calculated)

Step 4: Configure Booking Start Dates

You have two options for when guests can begin making reservations:

Option 1: Single Opening Date Set one date when booking opens for all guests regardless of stay length.

Option 2: Staggered Booking Schedule (Recommended for Busy Campgrounds) Create multiple booking start dates based on length of stay to optimize reservations:

Example Staggered Schedule:

1. April 15th at 9:00 AM: Guests booking 14+ nights can start reserving
2. April 22nd at 9:00 AM: Guests booking 7+ nights can start reserving
3. April 29th at 9:00 AM: Guests booking 1+ nights can start reserving

This approach allows longer-stay guests to book first, preventing shorter stays from blocking extended reservations.

Step 5: Manage Add-ons

The system automatically includes all available add-ons in your new season. To customize:

• Review the list of included add-ons
• Remove any add-ons you don’t want available during this season
• Removed add-ons won’t appear as booking options for guests

Step 6: Set Up Pricing Models

Default Nightly Rates Your existing pricing models will appear with their default nightly rates for different site types.

Weekly and Monthly Rate Options

Flat Rate Pricing If you don’t use price thresholds, you can set flat weekly and monthly rates:

Weekly Rate Example:

• Stay length: 7 nights
• Flat rate: $180 (guest pays $180 instead of 7 × daily rate)
• This gives guests booking a full week one free night

Monthly Rate Example:

• Stay length: 30-31 days
• Flat rate: $810 (equivalent to 27 nights at $30/night)
• Guests get 3 nights free when booking a month

Price Threshold Integration If your campground uses price thresholds, a dropdown menu will appear allowing you to select which thresholds apply to each pricing model.

Step 7: Apply Settings to All Pricing Models

Repeat the pricing configuration for each of your pricing models as needed. You can customize:

• Which models offer weekly/monthly discounts
• Different discount structures for different site types
• Varying flat rates based on site amenities

Best Practices

Timing Considerations

• Set booking start dates well in advance of your season opening
• Consider your typical booking patterns when setting staggered schedules
• Allow sufficient time between booking opening and season start

Pricing Strategy

• Review previous year’s pricing and occupancy rates
• Consider market conditions and competitor pricing
• Test different discount structures to optimize revenue

Communication

• Announce booking dates to previous guests via email
• Update your website with new season information
• Consider social media announcements for booking opening dates

Managing Multiple Seasons

If you operate shoulder seasons with different pricing:

• Create separate seasons for each period (e.g., “2023 Spring,” “2023 Summer,” “2023 Fall”)
• Set different pricing structures for each season
• Ensure there are no gaps or overlaps in your season dates
• Configure different add-on availability as needed

Final Steps

Once you’ve configured all settings:

1. Review all information for accuracy
2. Save your new season
3. Test the booking system with a sample reservation
4. Monitor initial bookings to ensure everything functions correctly

Creating well-structured seasons helps optimize your campground’s booking efficiency and revenue while providing clear guidelines for both staff and guests.