FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jo Ann Mickelson
Arizona Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds
602.403.6196
arizonaarvc@aol.com
GoCampingInArizona.com
RV PARKS ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA SAY THEY ARE BUSIER THIS WINTER
Park operators attribute the increase to exceptionally good weather this winter as well as an influx of snowbirds from parks in Texas and Florida that were damaged during last year’s hurricanes and floods.
Phoenix, Ariz., Feb 22, 2018 – The snowbird business is up this winter at RV parks and resorts across the Valley of the Sun, according to the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
“Several of our members are telling us this has been an extremely busy winter,” said Jo Ann Mickelson, executive director of the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, which hosts GoCampingInArizona.com, the travel planning website.
“We are very busy,” said Vickie Jepperson, general manager of Pueblo El Mirage RV & Golf Resort in El Mirage, which offers snowbirds 1,236 RV, park model and manufactured home sites.
She added that RVing snowbirds who are just passing through Arizona on their way to another destination are having a hard time finding a campsite.
She attributed some the increase to snowbirds who normally spend the winter at Parks in Texas and Florida but couldn’t do so this winter because of last year’s hurricanes and floods in those states.
“We are absolutely up”, said Angie Sherman of Apache Palms RV Park in Tempe, which has 80 RV sites.
Eric Vargas, general manager of the 218-site Desert Edge RV Park in Phoenix, said he has seen an uptick in business, too. “This season, February has been a lot busier than last season,” he said.
The 377-site Leaf Verde RV Resort in Buckeye is also seeing more snowbirds this winter.
“We have been sold out a couple of days recently, and the rest of February and most of March we’re almost sold out,” said Connie Jenkinson, Leaf Verde’s general manager.
Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort in Casa Grande, for its part, is at 100 percent occupancy, according to Cristin Zanocco, a divisional marketing coordinator for Sun RV Resorts and Sun Communities, Inc., which owns the resort. Palm Creek has 961 RV sites as well as 731 park models and 503 manufactured home sites.
Sheila Dalen, a relatively new manager of the 303-site Shangri-La RV resort in Yuma, said business is up there as well. “The residents are saying it’s much busier this winter,” she said.
Many of the busiest parks in Arizona are also parks that have made significant improvements in recent months.
For example, Deserts Edge RV, which was purchased by a new owner last September, has a new barbecue pavilion area and built a second dog park. The park has also created 15 additional RV sites, which were made from 15 super wide sites that were not previously in high demand.
“Everything has a new coat of paint,” Vargas said.
Pueblo El Mirage has also made lots of cosmetic improvements and installed shade sails above the seating areas by its swimming pools, Jepperson said.
Jenkinson said Leaf Verde RV Resort has installed a new exercise room and redecorated the park entrance with Western-Style wagons.
Shangri-La RV Resort, for its part, has repainted all of its buildings, upgraded its shuffleboard sites and started bringing in new park model RVs, which the park offers for sale, Dalen said.
Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort recently completed a multimillion dollar improvement project that includes 99 additional RV sites as well as premium lots for custom homes. Other improvements include an expanded bistro with indoor and outdoor dining; an expansion of the park’s ballroom with event rental facilities; two new fenced pet parks with shade pavilions; a walking and fitness trail; a new pool and pavilion; and a ne pro shop and gift shop, Zanocco said.
Some parks are also planning to make significant improvements in the future, including Apache Palms RV Resort, which plans to open a Bistro next fall.
For more information involving Campgrounds, RV parks and resorts in Arizona, please visit GoCampingInArizona.com, the travel planning website of the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
Contacts for the parks referenced in this press release are as follows:
- Apache Palms RV Park, Tempe, Angie Sherman, 480.966.7399
- Desert’s Edge RV, Phoenix, Eric Vargas, 623.587.0940
- Leaf Verde RV Resort, Buckeye, Connie Jenkinson, 623.386.3132
- Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort, Casa Grande, Cristin Zanocco, 630.621.7939
- Pueblo El Mirage RV & Golf Resort, El Mirage, Vickie Jepperson, 480.912.8197
- Shangri-La RV Resort, Yuma, Sheila Dalen, 928.342.9123
Based in Phoenix, the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds markets campgrounds, RV parks and resorts through GoCampingInArizona.com and its printed campground and RV Park directory, the 2017 RV and Camping Guide to Arizona, which is available free of charge online. The 36-page color guide contains a travel planning map as well as detailed descriptions of 99 campgrounds.
The camping guide is available in digital format on GoCampinginArizona.com and can also be ordered by emailing a request to arizonaarvc@aol.com.