Companies that specialize in providing Wi-Fi service to campgrounds are seeing a growing demand from remote campgrounds that never thought they would ever have to install Wireless Internet service.

The balance of their business is upgrading existing campground Wi-Fi systems to meet the needs of people who want to watch movies, listen to music, play Wii games and make Internet phone calls while they camp. Some people get upset when they go camping and find out the scenic campground in the woods is out of cellphone range. But not Jessee Howry. For her, being out of cellphone range is a good thing because it means that she and her husband, Jon, without being interrupted by text messages and phone calls.

Not only do the Howrys bond more during those times when they are out of cellphone range, but they are more likely to engage in outdoor activities. But, while Jessee enjoys being out of cellphone range for a few days at a time, she admits she can’t be without access to a campground's Wi-Fi service, which she taps into with her laptop computer to communicate with family members who are watching their home.

Howry isn’t alone. Americans increasingly cannot do without wireless Internet or Wi-Fi service, even when they are camping at remote campgrounds, according to Linda Profaizer, president and CEO of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.

“Campground operators increasingly find that if they don’t offer Wi-Fi service, they will lose business to parks that do,” Profaizer said.

Businesses increasingly expect their employees to be accessible by email at all times, she said, while many business owners themselves are uncomfortable being out of touch with their employees or their clients for any length of time. In fact, campground operators say some of their guests have told them they could not go camping at all unless they had access to Internet service.
And the demand for Internet access isn’t limited to work-related communication. Many campers use it to keep up with their social networking, to play games, to watch movies or to make Internet phone calls using Skype and other voice-over-IP networks. As a result, campgrounds in even the most distant parts of the country are installing Wi-Fi systems, some of which have to use satellite connections because of their remote location.

“Some people can’t handle it if they don’t have an Internet connection,” said Katie Oneida, co-owner of Wishon Village RV Resort, a remote campground in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California that is located about 30 miles from Shaver Lake, the closest town with cellphone service. But by providing Wi-Fi service, she said, campgrounds find they not only have happy campers, but campers who will stay longer.

Officials from leading campground industry Wi-Fi providers, including Austin, Texas-based TengoInternet, Napa, Calif.-based Airwave Adventures, and Portland, Me.-based CheckBox Systems LLC, Napa, Calif.-based Airwave Adventures, all report significant investments from campgrounds seeking Wi-Fi technology.

“Primitive camping is becoming a smaller and smaller niche of the market,” said Jim Ganley, managing partner of Portland, Me.-based CheckBox Systems LLC, adding that 20 percent of his business this year involves campgrounds in remote locations that are installing Wi-Fi for the first time. The balance of his business involves making upgrades to existing campground Wi-Fi systems so that campers can watch movies, listen to music, play Wii games and make Internet phone calls.

TengoInternet, for example, recently quadrupled the amount of bandwidth provided in the Wi-Fi system at Normandy Farms Campground in Foxboro, Mass. because of significant increases in Wi-Fi service demands from campground guests.

“I would say the majority of our guests prefer to be connected (to the Internet),” said Kristine Daniels, Normandy Farms’ marketing manager. She added that the park has seen so much demand for office services that it set up a business center with computers and fax machines. “It’s always just swamped with people,” she said.

All of this Internet activity, of course, is literally changing the way people camp and what they expect of campgrounds when they go camping. “Even in my tenting area, I’ll see people sitting out there with their laptops,” said Randy Packard, who owns Pine Acres Resort, a 350-site park in Oakham, Mass.

For additional commentary, statistics and sources on the latest trends in campgrounds, RV parks and resorts or for leads on parks in your news coverage area that are making green improvements this year, please contact Linda Profaizer at the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds at (303) 681-0401 and visit www.GoCampingAmerica.com.