Do I need online booking on my RV park website?
Most parks should. Two kinds genuinely should not, and it is worth knowing which you are before spending money on it.
SHORT ANSWER
For most parks, yes. Travelers plan at night and on weekends when nobody is in the office, and a park that only takes phone bookings loses those to whoever takes the reservation immediately. Two exceptions are real. Long-term and monthly parks that screen tenants need the conversation and should use an inquiry form, not a booking cart. And very small parks with complicated site assignments sometimes place guests better by hand than software does. For everyone else, online booking pays for itself.
Why most parks need it
Trip planning happens at 9 p.m. A traveler comparing three parks books the one that lets them book. The other two get a voicemail they may or may not return to. That is the entire argument, and it is enough for most parks.
The two real exceptions
Long-term parks. If you screen for rig age, references, or background checks, a booking cart is the wrong tool. Use an inquiry form that collects rig details, dates, and contact information, and make the first call the screening call.
Small parks with hand assignment. A 20-site park where the owner places rigs by length, slide clearance, and who gets along with whom may genuinely do better by phone. If that is you, a request form with the details you need beats a cart.
The middle ground
Take online bookings for standard sites and use an inquiry form for the ones that need a conversation: monthly, group, oversized, or anything with a caveat. Most platforms support marking certain site types as request-only, which gives you the automation where it helps and the conversation where it matters.
If you only take phone bookings
Then make the phone number huge, tappable on every page, and answered. Say your hours plainly. Add a callback request form for after hours that collects dates, rig length, and a number, so the 9 p.m. traveler has something to do other than leave. That is the minimum viable version.
Related questions.
Do RV travelers expect online booking?
Increasingly yes, particularly travelers under fifty and anyone booking more than a week out. Last-minute highway guests still call.
Can I take online bookings for some sites and not others?
Yes. Most platforms let you mark site types as request-only, which works well for monthly, group, and oversized sites.
What if I do not want online booking at all?
Then make the phone number prominent and tappable, state your hours, and add an after-hours request form so late planners can still reach you.
Does online booking cost extra?
It is usually part of your reservation platform's fee, often a percentage of the booking. Check your contract for the rate.
Want this handled for your park?
We build and run websites for RV parks and campgrounds, and nothing else. Websites from $85 a month, SEO from $250.
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