www.lux-review.com Page 15 LUX 2021 Global Excellence Awards KOA is a company managing and running over 500 campsites across North America that connect modern people and the thriving outdoor world. Its sites are little havens of natural beauty that allow the safe and easy way to enjoy nature, with family-friendly sites equipped with a range of amenities and making it the perfect getaway. It prides itself on creating an exemplary space for its customers to enjoy the great outdoors. It offers plot spaces for both RV and tent campers, and its campsites offer a wide range of experiences and landscapes to explore, helping people get outside to change them on the inside, cultivating good mental health hygiene. KOA was founded in 1962 to create unforgettable outdoor moments. It also operates on a franchise business model, and due to this the KOA family has seen massive growth as more sites seek to become part of it. In 1983, Point South KOA was bought by the Olendorf family who have a staunch dedication to serving the camping and outdoor leisure industry. That site is a stopping point on the US interstate highway I-95. The core values that KOA prides itself on are clean, well-cared-for environments that are trusted to be consistently excellent. Thanks to the rapid success of its expansion, KOA sites are a regular sight on the roads of North America; and in the early 2000s it added the principle of targeted hospitality to its business model. This is much like that used in the hotel or motel industry, one that focuses on defining a company’s customer and adapting its internal structure accordingly to best suit its target market. This also feeds into the usual location of KOA’s sites. Given that most of them are found off highways or located conveniently close to the nervous system of roads that run through the country, they form excellent getaways for travellers. KOA bills itself as good for both quick stops and long getaways, delivering convenience to the campers and allowing them to take some of the stress out of Aug21099 Point South KOA Campgrounds of the Year - South Carolina organizing stopovers on the road. KOA also takes great pride in providing activities at the site that will make it a memorable stay. Both inside the campsite itself and in exploration of the surrounding area, KOA offers relaxation and excitement to keep its guests minds and bodies active; it runs recreational and staff led activities, resortstyle pools, and food venues. It also offers RV sites with patios and luxury cabins for the true comfort experience. Further to this, it offers an outdoor experience with the ‘Glamping’ design in mind for those of its guests who wish to retain home comforts whilst enjoying the outdoors. Built into its business model are the concepts thrust into popularity by Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, and LeRoy Nieman, combining the Kampground of America A-Frame model. This building design format was debuted in 1962 and has remained a stalwart element of iconic franchised campgrounds since. Since the turn of the century, Point South KOA has been adapting and changing in line with the new flexible operational model. Now, it is no longer an average campground with a national brand logo affiliation, but a hospitality centric site that serves the upper income camping traveller, most notably the echelons of this target market who own motorhomes or trailers and travel in them often. Some of its customers even use these vehicles as their second homes, facilitating a life of untethered luxury travel. It is at this site that it displays artworks by Alexander Calder, LeRoy Nieman, Ivan Albright, and other artists, further enhancing the bespoke feel of a vacation at this location. KOA has a rule that runs through all of its operations, stating that any business is first and foremost 70% people and 30% built environment; one can blow an entire budget on the creation of a beautiful site, but if the people who work there are unhappy and unfulfilled, it won’t matter. Therefore, South Point KOA takes great pride in hiring the best of the best and has developed an in-depth training process to onboard new staff members. Today, KOA’s challenges have been manifesting in managing the impacts of the pandemic. With its large sites and well thought out designs however, it lent itself nicely to social distancing rules, and found implementing safety rules was a seamless process. It wishes to reinforce the idea that outdoor holidays like the ones it offers are some of the best options for a getaway in a world still facing the impacts of Covid-19. Furthermore, in the future, it wishes to keep only improving its services. In the next few years, it will be adding yet more ‘Glamping’ features such as another brand-new lodge. Company: Point South KOA Contact: William Olendorf Website: www.pointsouthkoa.com A luxury camping and outdoor experience franchise, KOA has a vast network of exemplary sites across North America, and its growth shows no signs of stopping. Nov21349
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