$700/night glass domes in Colorado. Hilton moving into campgrounds. RoverPass says revenue hit a record high even as reservation volume slipped. The outdoor hospitality market is bifurcating — and operators who don't pick a lane are getting squeezed.
MARKET INTEL
Record revenue. Fewer reservations. Pick that apart before you celebrate.
RoverPass's 2026 Outdoor Hospitality Report landed with a headline that sounds great — campground and RV park revenue hit a record high in 2025. But reservation volume fell 1.0% year-over-year at the same time.
That combination tells you something specific: average revenue per booking went up, not total demand. Guests are spending more per trip, but fewer people are booking. For operators in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Idaho, this is a pricing power signal, not a demand signal. Don't confuse the two.
The practical read: if your occupancy is holding but revenue isn't growing, you're leaving money on the table. If your occupancy is slipping, you can't paper over it with rate increases indefinitely.
The Lippert/Patrick merger collapse has real implications for your operation.
Outdoor Hospitality Weekly reported that the proposed merger between Lippert and Patrick Industries fell apart. If those names aren't on your radar, they should be — together they supply a significant share of the RV components, campground capital equipment, and outdoor hospitality infrastructure that operators across the Mountain West buy and maintain.
A deal this size collapsing creates uncertainty in the supply chain. Expect continued pricing volatility on capital equipment, longer lead times on specialty components, and less negotiating leverage when you're sourcing replacements. If you have infrastructure projects planned for 2026 or 2027, get bids now and lock in material costs before the market reprices.
Hotel brands are moving into your category — and they're bringing Hilton's distribution.
Major hotel brands are converting traditional properties into higher-end outdoor lodging experiences. Hilton's loyalty program and distribution network were specifically cited as a competitive advantage for these new offerings.
This matters because it changes who your competition is. You're no longer just competing with the KOA down the road — you're competing with brands that have millions of loyalty members, sophisticated revenue management systems, and institutional capital behind them. The operators who get squeezed are the ones sitting in the middle: not cheap enough to win on price, not differentiated enough to win on experience.
OPERATOR PLAYBOOK
The market is bifurcating. Here's how to pick your lane.
The data points this week all point in the same direction: outdoor hospitality is splitting between high-end experiential properties and value-driven commodity operations. The middle is getting harder to defend.
If you're going upmarket, the Kosmos model is your proof of concept. Renting Dirt reported that Kosmos Stargazing Resort near Alamosa, Colorado just broke ground on 22 glass-domed villas priced at $700–$1,200 per night. That's not an outlier — it's a signal that investors are putting real capital behind the thesis that guests will pay premium rates for unique, place-specific outdoor experiences. You don't need 22 units to execute this strategy. One or two well-designed glamping structures on an existing property can move your ADR significantly.
If you're staying value-focused, get sharp on cost structure now. The Lippert/Patrick situation and continued cost inflation mean your margins are under pressure from the supply side. Value operators who survive the next two years will be the ones who locked in maintenance contracts, negotiated bulk supply agreements, and built lean operating systems before costs moved higher.
Watch state-level regulatory trends even outside your market. Wisconsin's new Act 117 exempts seasonal campers' personal property from real property tax. It's not a Mountain West law, but it's exactly the kind of campground-favorable policy change that advocacy groups are pushing for in WY, CO, MT, UT, and ID. Know what's moving in your state legislature. Operators who engage early have influence. Those who show up after the fact don't.
DEAL SPOTLIGHT
The glamping land play is still open — but the window is narrowing.
Kosmos breaking ground at $700–$1,200/night on raw recreational land near Alamosa is a data point worth sitting with. Alamosa isn't Jackson. It's not Moab. It's a secondary Colorado market with strong dark-sky credentials and limited existing supply.
The same thesis applies across the Mountain West right now. Recreational parcels with water rights, dark-sky access, or national forest adjacency are still available at prices that pencil for a small glamping operation. As hotel brands move in and institutional capital follows the Kosmos model, that window closes.
If you're looking at land right now, run the numbers on 4–8 units before you assume you need scale to make it work.
Reply with what you're seeing in your market — are guests spending more per trip, or is demand actually softening? I read every response.
— Timberline Operator