Campground in Canada wanted by overseas Invester

argyll1st

Well-known member
Hi all, My wife and I are travelling to Canada on a shopping trip for a RV park next month, we are looking in Lower AB and in Lower BC, we are looking for a campsite or an RV park thats going to fill our needs, here is what we are looking for, We have it in our head that it will be a run down small family owned site on a river / lake or sea, The current owner will have owned it for 20+ years and be beyond retirement age and motivated to sell, In short we are looking for a " Fixer Upper" we are looking for something thats maybe not on the market or has been for a long time, as I said we are looking for a motivated seller, between us, my wife and I have had lots of experience in business and want this new project to help us raise a family , So if you guys stumble across a campground that looks like its seen better days wit loads of potential then do me a favour and PM me the details of were you saw it. :)
 

Nabo

Southeast Region Director-Retired
The best of luck to you in finding your future dream campground.
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
Well We did it !!!!! found a very nice private RV/Campground on Vancouver Island up on Black Creek , mid island, we have over 1000ft of the oyster river on the property, Now we need to decide what kind of Park we would like, we looked at loads of parks here and to be honest most of the Parks for sale where real junk shops with more "trailer trash" than any one park should have , It would appear that there are a lot of over seas investors here on the Island who have bought parks as investments and are in the proccess of milking them to death and when they have killed it , they will build Condo developments. our Park has been closed for the last 6 years as the widow could not manage the park on her own, we will reopen next spring and we will pester the forum until we manage to host a BC Chapter Forum and get some of you Yanky haulers up here to SuperBC. Any Ideas of what you think a great little park should have give me your Ideas........
 

noobee

Well-known member
Here's my suggestion to get ideas:

Invite the various RV Clubs (Heartland BC Owners, Good Sam Chapter, etc) to a FREE weekend rally at your park... one evening have a group fire where you supply the beer & wine and get a group discussion going regarding what they would like to see done to your park.
 

DXprowler

Well-known member
Congratulations! That's quite a lifestyle change but one I'm sure you'll enjoy! Other than the free camping and spirits I would say level spacious sites w/50 amp and clean comfort station with laundry facilities. Keep it simple as not much else is needed especially is the sites are spacious and natural. Good luck to you!
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
I love the idea of a free weekend for Club/chapter groups, That is a great idea, the camp has a great 5 Acre site on the river and another 5 acres on 2 levels, so between the 3 levels we could have different groups on different levels depending on there size, and then a dance in the pub, well I call it a pub but its a 4000sq/ft facility right in the middle of the site that used to be a 300 restaurant /pub. When would you suggest ? would I tee it up as a pre-season April/May thing ? or as an end of season Dance ? what do you think ? I would have to stick in some more 50Amp sites as the river side is fairly poorly provided for.:angel:
 

loafer

Well-known member
When you read campground reviews 2 things stand out # 1 usually noted is washrooms ,cleanliness and being kept clean.Claen showers and hot water in good supply makes people happy.
The other is campsite size and manoverability so that the bigger rigs can get in easily.
Wishing you success with your new venture
Regards Bill
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
Here are some ideas for a campgound in Canada that you would want some of us Yanks to come to.

DW and I went up to New Brunswick, PEI, and Nova Scotia. Here is what we went through.
Our internet access wouldn't work and if it did it would cost us an arm and a leg. I had to go to a library at 11pm to talk to my family and some friends on MS Instant message. The campground did not have internet access and those that were near by didn't work very well. Marco Polo Campground in PEI is one. Nice place but I had to go to the laundry to use the internet and it didn't work very well there.

Had a problem as to what was going on in the news and such. No Satellite service and the over the air TV was terrible. All we could get was one station and it was blurry. The only thing we could see was the Olympics and it was hard on the eyes. We ended up getting CD's and watching movies in the evening after we got home from a Day Trip.

Cell Phone no good. AT&T would cost me $2 a minute if I did not take their global service then it was $0.56 per minute. Tried to use my Skype phone but the campground didn't like it and it was to slow. Drove to the library or a public access point to use the skype phone.
These were the main inconvenience that we found.

We like wide sites so we can put out the awning and set with others and have room to park the truck beside or behind the trailer and not have to worry if we can get our slides out.
We like the site to be level side to side and front to back.
We like the sewer pipe to be at ground level and at the same height as the site the trailer is sitting on. Went to one campground where the sewer pipe was about the same height as the sewer pipe on the trailer.
We like the power panels to be up off the ground enough that you can plug in a surge suppressor and it not be laying on the ground.
We like water faucets sturdy and above ground. Make your main cutoff under ground with a drain to prevent freezing. We were at a campground in Tennessee that had the valve 18" down inside a 10" PVC pipe.
We like Concrete pads, but good gravel area and good grass is good. Level is more important.
We like to back in or pull thru without having to maneuver around rocks, trees, poles and such.
We like cable service of some kind to get daily information about the world, country and local.
For others, rest rooms, showers, laundry, club house, swimming pool, and such are important. If you want to host rallys these are important but for people like us we want a nice place to stay while we are out running around these are not normally used.

I would like to see you succeed. However remember. This is going to be 3 times more difficult than you might think. Not trying to discourage you. We met an owner of a campground that found out how much work there is to running one. Always something going on and the public (not us LOL) are hard to please sometimes. He wished he had never bought the campground.

Good luck and keep in touch.
BC
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
The biggest thing we have noticed lately is the prices of public campgrounds. The way the prices are getting you could get a hotel/motel room for the same price. Campgrounds should not be more than $35.00 for premium sites with discounts. Good water is also important. Good electricity wired properly is important. I think you will find that by the time you get registered with all of the various camping clubs such as Good Sam, Camp Club USA, Passport America, Escapees, RPI, Coast to Coast and others you will be very busy. Also be aware of any flooding problems you might have on your riverside sites if the river comes up. That can sure damage campsites not to mention RVs. Many campgrounds are also putting in cabins to rent. These can be travel trailers, park model trailers or wooden cabins like the ones KOA has. Good luck with your venture and may you have much success.
 

bigredtruck

Well-known member
I can see the biggest deterent (sp?) for most in coming to your campground will be the ferry costs. We have figured out it would cost us close to $400 each way from Vancouver. So, one day, we will do a trip to the Island, and we will stay long enough to see everything and then we would be hard pressed to come back with the rig. Your target market may have to be people who are already there. :) just my two cents worth.
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I can see the biggest deterrent for most in coming to your campground will be the ferry costs. We have figured out it would cost us close to $400 each way from Vancouver.

Well everything I said is still good but your going to have a limited clientele. I have to agree with big red truck. We probably will wait to come see you until you get the bridge built. Give us a holler and we will start to make plans.

Really... Good luck we hope you well. But the bridge is probably the crux of the deal.

BC
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
Yeh I hear you guys load and clear, we brought our sundance 3300 and f350 (50 feet) and it cost $200CA one way, we are no strangers to dealing with the public and are aware of the problems that go along with some of them, we feel that as RV & campers for over 20 years we will bring a degree of understanding to the re-vamp of this older park, we bought it because the setting is just fantastic, here are some pictures...

http://www.bootsysresort.com/

Terrible name but as I said great spot, we know we will be spending 6 figures on this place and this is why we are asking what you guys like and value the most in an RV park, any and all comments have and will be met with an open and gratefull mind...
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
Looks like a nice place. 6 RV sites. 4 only have service? 55 site campgrounds, sounds like tent camping? This sounds like a boondocking place. How much room do you have to make more RV Sites and how would they get there. The ferry cost would make it prohibitive. What would it cost for a 54ft truck and trailer. The Club House looks nice.

To me, because we would have to use a ferry to get there, it would seem like building a lot of cabins and advertise for year round vacations. It might be a bit of a stretch for RV's. You might make it high end and have those with Prevost come by and stay for a week or two.

BC
 

2010augusta

Well-known member
What would it cost for a 54ft truck and trailer.

BC

Bobcat, According to the Port Angles-Victoria ferry fares it would be $230.00 each way plus booking fee.

John, another though would be to gear it to people that would come and spend an entire summer or several months on the island for a vacation.
 

CRLYHDS

Member
What a beautiful site and location! I love Vancouver Island, in spite of the cost of the ferry. Please keep us posted on the changes you will make.
 

ann1951

Member
John you will get a lot off German and Dutch people in rental campers maybe get in contact with motor home
rental places in BC and Alberta
 

Dave012

Well-known member
I agree with ann1951. There are a lot of european tourists renting motor homes for big $$$ and wouldn't think twice about the ferry fee. A client of mine used to be in the business of renting to just German tourists traveling from Alberta to Alaska and BC.

Looks like a beautiful location. I was thinking about a trip through the mountains, and to the Island next year or the year after. Will certainly consider your campground. If it fits your trailer, it will fit mine!
 

DXprowler

Well-known member
You could attract a fair number of Canadian full-timers during the winter who want to save money on health insurance. There are many with health issues who have to pay through the nose if they ever went south! Also, from what I understand, temps were higher this past winter on Canada's left coast than in the southern States. I know of a number of parks that are open all year round so perhaps set your sites up to avoid the water lines freezing and make sure there's heat in the comfort station in case of a rare freeze.
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
Hi Guys I am listening to all the great ideas, the plan so far is to install 40+ sites with full hookup, all with at least 12mt width with 30mt length + 10 x 2 bedroom cotages, we are looking at fitting digital power meters so campers can pay for the electricity they use !!! this way we can reduce the cost per night and the over all running costs, Campers would leave a security deposit of say $20- $50 and note there meter reading when they hook up, they will be made aware of the price per unit when they check in, but on the upside the price for full hookup would be far cheaper say maybe $15-$20 per night, as we have worked out that the electricity will be the highest cost to us, I think this would let most people camp cheaper and the guys who run every socket at full capacity move on down the road ? what do you all think ? would this work ? any and all ideas welcome, Oh and a 54ft rig from Vanc to the island would be about $200ca. I think we are looking at 108mbs wireless internet and 10/100 network connections at the hookup post next to the cable TV adapter so there is a more secure connection & TV on-demand via 108mb/per/sec ultrafast internet connection.
 

argyll1st

Well-known member
Sounds like I had better get some flags of europe ordered, when we used to come to BC on Holiday we thought nothing of paying the ferrys, but then when its your only 2week vacation !
 
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