San Diego CA— Campland on the Bay, San Diego’s favorite campground and one of Mission Bay’s original lessees, recently welcomed the one millionth reservation in its database.
The campers who unknowingly booked Campland’s one millionth reservation turned out to be Barry and Cindy Homer, a couple from Texas who have been trekking 1,500 miles to camp on Mission Bay for over twenty years.
At a beachfront celebration, Campland’s staff presented Cindy and Barry Homer with a trophy to commemorate the milestone and to thank them for being such loyal customers. Scores of fellow campers gathered around to shower the couple with cheers and applause.
“We are thrilled and honored to be Campland’s ‘one millionth reservation,’” the Homers said. “In our RV travels over thirty plus years, Campland on the Bay tops our list for places to stay, having come here since 1996 with fond memories. There’s just no place we’d rather be. It’s a vacation from a vacation.”
While the Homers have traveled across North America visiting the finest RV campgrounds, they contend that Campland offers a one-of-a-kind, affordable coastal experience that attracts customers from all over the U.S. and Canada.
“Campland has all the top-notch amenities,” the Homers explained. “Public areas, restrooms and laundry are always clean, beautiful landscaping, hot food at the Cantina, live entertainment, activities and sports for all ages, swimming pools, hot tubs, bikes, boats, paddle boards for rent, and so much more. The people here create phenomenal positive energy. Lots of smiles and laughter.”
“Campland on the Bay is beyond proud to have passionate, loyal customers like Cindy and Barry,” said Jacob Gelfand, Campland’s Vice President of Operations. “We feel tremendous gratitude to see generations of families reunite with us, year-after-year, to enjoy all that Campland and our beautiful city have to offer. We are doubly blessed that so many of our 150 employees have been with us for ten, twenty, even thirty years and more.”
The city’s ongoing De Anza Revitalization Plan process has highlighted the community’s affection for Campland on the Bay, and the benefits of preserving the amount of waterfront camping in the northeast corner of Mission Bay. In feedback collected by the City on the De Anza Revitalization effort, camping proved to be the most frequently supported use for the vacant De Anza property in northeast Mission Bay, with more public support for camping than the second and third highest priority uses combined.
Inspired to take action by their one millionth reservation milestone, the Homers paid a visit to the City Council on April 23. Standing before the Councilmembers in bright yellow “Campland Forever” tee-shirts, they implored the city to preserve Campland on the Bay for future generations.
“There has been talk for years,” the Homers said, “about closing down Campland and relocating camping across the Bay to De Anza. We’ve seen the plans. Not sure that it would be worth coming back for ‘just another resort,’ but you bet we will be back for Campland! Just like Old Town and Balboa Park, Campland is a historic, iconic place that should be preserved for future generations.”
Last year alone, Campland generated $2.8 million in city rent and transient occupancy tax, improving upon the $2.6 million generated for the city in 2016. Throughout 2017, Campland accommodated 121,974 site nights worth of reservations, with one of its highest occupancy rates on record. The average occupancy rate in July 2017 reached 80.3%, with virtually no vacancy over Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and many other summer weekends. Campland’s guests include tens of thousands of San Diego families, along with visitors who support neighboring small businesses during their stay. Campers like the Homers routinely line up before dawn to reserve their favorite campsite up to two years in advance.
Campland on the Bay first opened in 1969 as one of the first tenants in Mission Bay Park. On April 4, 2017, the City Council voted unanimously to grant Campland on the Bay a three-year lease extension with two, one-year options which would further extend the lease to November 2022.
Campland provides affordable overnight accommodations along the coast at a time when research shows such access is increasingly rare and most Californians cannot afford the average cost of a hotel along the water.