Snowbirds Are Flocking To Sunbelt RV Parks In Much Higher Numbers Than Last Winter, According To Park Operators

(Vocus) February 10, 2010

Five years ago, Jim Harrisons campground 30 miles northeast of New Orleans was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Undeterred, Harrison spent his life savings rebuilding the park, only to have the economy pull the rug out from under him with the worst recession in decades. But despite these calamities, snowbirds have filled up Harrisons 120-site New Orleans East Kampground in Slidell, La. this winter, and he expects to have his best winter season yet.

Were doing much better than last winter, he said during an early February interview. In fact, were running plumb full. I dont think well have any spaces left. The uptick in snowbird business isnt unique to the New Orleans area. Its happening in Sunbelt destinations across the country.

Most RV parks and resorts that cater to snowbirds are reporting higher occupancies this winter than they did last winter, said Linda Profaizer, president and CEO of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds in Larkspur, Colo.

Profaizer attributes the surge in snowbird business to a variety of factors, including a stronger economy, moderate fuel prices, an improving stock market, and a strong Canadian dollar. Another factor in our favor, she said, is the fact that campgrounds, RV parks and resorts continue to offer the most affordable way for retirees to spend extended periods of time in the Sunbelt.

And as snowbirds search for affordable places to winter, she said, growing numbers of them are landing at private parks across the Sunbelt, from independently owned and operated parks to parks that are operated by major RV resort chains.

Rincon Country RV Resort in Tucson, Ariz., for example, has seen a 30 percent increase in winter visitors since November, said park owner George OLeary, adding that his current winter business even exceeds his 2006 figures by 4 percent. From November on, he said, occupancies have been running steadily higher.

Shadow Hills RV Park in Indio, Calif. has experienced a similar surge in business, said park owner Paula Turner, who noted that her winter business is at its highest level since she purchased the park six years ago. Our occupancy last January was only 75 to 80 percent, she said. This year, we have been running 97 to 99 percent since January 15th. We are completely booked in February and have been turning people away since the first of January.

Chicago-based Equity LifeStyle Properties, the nations largest Sunbelt RV resort operator, has seen flat revenues for seasonal visitors at its Florida properties during the fourth quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. However, the company is experiencing seasonal revenue increases of 16.5 percent and 23 percent, respectively, at its Arizona and Texas parks, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to company spokeswoman Pat Zamora.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Carefree RV Resorts, for its part, is seeing monthly revenue gains exceeding 11 percent at its 27 Florida RV parks during the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period a year ago, said company President Colleen Edwards. The company has not yet compiled estimates for its Texas parks. However, Carefrees Texas parks have seen an increase in short-term visitors, Edwards said.

Meanwhile, La Jolla, Calif.-based SunLand RV Resorts, which owns and operates seven RV resorts in Southern California, is reporting a steady increase in business this winter. We have seen a strong surge in new guests and many returns of people that skipped the 2009 season based on economic scares, said SunLand Operations Manager Greg Sidoroff, adding, Canadian traffic is extremely strong with a strong Canadian dollar and overall great weather in Southern California. Deposits for future (winter) seasons are (also) going very well.

Of course, not every park is experiencing an upturn in snowbird business this winter. Central Park of Haines City, Fla., is full right at the moment, said park manager Chris Long, but the parks overall business for the winter season has been down compared to last winter.

Chris Freed, owner of Zachary Taylor RV Resort in Okeechobee, Fla., said his business is consistent with last winters figures, too, but those figures were down about 25 percent from normal.

Most Sunbelt parks, however, are seeing some improvement in their business levels this winter. Consider these examples:

Alabama

Webs, Inc., Celebrates its 10th Anniversary: Do-it-Yourself Solution for Website Creation Now Serves More than 40 Million Users Worldwide

Silver Spring, MD (PRWEB) June 10, 2011

Webs, the popular, do-it-yourself solution for website creation, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, having grown from 34 daily sign-ups to more than 40 million businesses, that have launched their own websites with Webs.

Started in 2001 by three brothers--Zeki, Haroon and Idris Mokhtarzada--Webs was founded on the principle that the average, nontechnical person should be able to make a great website.

Zeki and Haroon Mokhtarzada, while students at the University of Maryland, College Park, created Webs (then known as Freewebs) after realizing that a website-creation tool would be more efficient than creating websites for others by hand. They each invested $ 1,000, bought a few servers, put the servers in a closet in Zekis apartment, and Freewebs was born.

We wanted to make it easier for people to get nice looking, organized websites, according to Haroon Mokhtarzada, Co-Founder and CEO of Webs. The brothers chose their mother as the ideal Webs user: "My mother is a professional and a very intelligent person, but she doesn't have any technical skills. If she could use our Site Builder, most people could," explained Haroon.

In a recent interview, the founders of Webs shared the Webs philosophy and their mothers role in the company:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbwI6LQP30

In 2001, two or three new users signed up with Freewebs each day. Then something strange happened: a lot more people started signing up. The mystery was solved when Haroon and Zeki found out that their younger brother, Idriswho was then only 14had added Freewebs to dmoz.org, a popular website directory. We werent even ready to launch, noted Haroon.

But the business was put on the back burner in 2002 when Zeki began working for the National Institutes of Health and Haroon began studying law at Harvard University. They kept Freewebs going by working on it part-time. After Haroon graduated from law school he considered his options: Freewebs was making enough money to pay our salaries, so we said, lets give it some love. In 2005 the brothers gave Freewebs their full attention and set out to fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams.

High-octane growth

Their hard work paid off: in August 2006 they received $ 11 million in Series A funding from Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Columbia Capital.

Between 2003 and 2007 the company grew 1704%. In 2008, Webs placed fifth in Deloitte's prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for the Greater Washington region. By this point, Webs was getting 20,000 new user signups every day and each month 30 million unique people visited sites created with Webs Site Builder tool.

2008 was also the year the company rebranded itself by changing its name from Freewebs to, simply, Webs. This 2.0 iteration of the Webs platform let site owners create community-driven sites that visitors could join as members. By giving site members the ability to comment on photos, post to a blog, add to a site calendar, and more, a site becomes more of a living, breathing entity, notes Haroon.

In November 2009, Webs launched an App Store to make helpful third-party applications available to all Webs users. Some of the most popular apps in the App Store include the e-commerce Web Store, Cafe Press, DudaMobile, Meebo, and Etsy.

The Webs family of products

2010 was the year Webs developed a family of products to give Webs customers primarily small business owners -- easy and cost-effective ways to develop an online presence across web, mobile, and social platforms. In addition to the Webs DIY site-creation tool, the Webs family of products grew to include:

ContactMe, the first online, lightweight customer relationship management (CRM) tool created exclusively for microbusinesses.

Pagemodo, a do-it-yourself Facebook page builder that enables small businesses to design and customize their Facebook fan pages for free. With Pagemodos Pagebuilder, entrepreneurs dont need to have any technical or design skills to create fresh, stylish Facebook pages for their business that attracts visitors and promotes their services.

Continued innovation

But growing its family of products didnt stop Webs from innovating within the Webs platform as well, particularly to give small businesses an edge in the mobile arena:

Mobile Websites are available to every Webs user. The mobile version is optimized for todays mobile devices, like the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, and automatically stays in sync with the original site.

A Webs Redesign in 2010 presented a stylish and more functional version of Webs to the world. The Webs.com website and the Webs Site Builder were overhauled to make their site-building tools and processes even easier for people to use.

All of this innovation was recognized in July 2010 when Webs was named one of the Hottest DC Area Companies by Lead411. The awards review noted that Webs is among the top 100 most trafficked websites in the world. The company has tripled its revenues in the past 3 years.

The Webs family

Webs now has 50 employees and offices in both Silver Spring, Maryland, and Silicon Valley. The Silver Spring office has an open floor plan that facilitates brainstorming and collaboration. Zeki, Haroon, and Idris sit with their teams but often move around the office to answer questions, solve problems, fix bugs, and discuss plans for helping Webs users achieve their own entrepreneurial dreams.

About Webs, Inc.

Webs (http://webs.com) is the worlds largest do-it-yourself solution to create a free website, serving over 40 million users. Webs enables small businesses and entrepreneurs to easily make a great-looking website and project a professional image. The Webs family of productsincluding Webs, ContactMe, and Pagemodoprovide small businesses with simple and cost-effective ways to launch and grow their companies across web, social, and mobile platforms. Founded in 2001 by the Mokhtarzada brothers, Webs is funded by Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Columbia Capital. For more information, contact Chuck Hester at hester(at)webs(dot)com or visit http://www.Webs.com, http://www.ContactMe.com and http://www.Pagemodo.com to sign up for free today.

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