Highway West Vacations VP Of Operations Discusses Logistics & Thinking 'Outside The Box' At Cruise Inn Annual Conference
Having a vision and following through on it can be a transforming experience. With the building of the Highway West brand of campgrounds, VP of Operations Michael Beckelhymer continues to push the boundaries of what is possible as he did in his previous industry as a restauranteur. Beckelhymer sat down with The Buzz at the Cruise Inn Conference, of which his properties are members, in Fort Worth, Texas to discuss logistics, problem solving and thinking outside the box.
The Buzz: When approaching acquisitions of new properties, it is the essence of what can be improved and enhanced. What do you look for? Geography? Amenities?
Michael Beckelhymer: That's an interesting question. There are a lot of things that dictate what we look at. First of all.,..destination. Why do people go there? Then we go and look at the property. What kind of bones does it have in terms of infrastructure, systems and everything else. Then we analyze what they are doing today and figure out what we can do with that. At one of the properties that I looked at this week I asked the gentleman what kind of reservation system he had. And I do that because “Does it have dynamic pricing? Does it have access to OPAs?” The guy reaches behind, grabs a loose leaf notebook and goes to July and shows me what he is doing next year. That is a plus for somebody like us as an operator to come in...if the rest of the property fits our image. Is it clean? Is it crisp? Or can it be clean and crisp? And what else can we do to set it apart from the rest of the competition in that area.
The Buzz: Each of your parks has an individual identity whether it be in Flying Flags [in California] or Oceanside [in Oregon]. How much did you adjust what these sites would be become when you first came there?
MB: [We tend to change it] dramatically. I will give you an idea of what we did at Oceanside. We completely redid the admin office and the store. Our stores...our convenience stores...are boutique. They are a whole lot of things like wine, coffee mugs, cool stuff from the area. We have a relationship with a gentleman that does photography [on-site] who mattes it and puts it into frames. He sells them for 40 or 50 bucks and we get a piece of it. It is that. You mentioned the restaurant. There wasn't one there. So we built it. We actually bought a food service wagon. It is already certified so you get the health department's approval in it and then we took barn wood and covered the outside with it to give it that unique look. Then we came up with a nice logo. We have a design team that does that. They go “Where are we at? What are we going to call this?” In this case it is called the Coos Bay Crab Company. We actually have a relationship with a local culinary school and we go to them and get the pick of the litter and work them through the summer as part of an intern program. It allows those who are really aspiring to go out and do their own thing to get a taste of what running a business is like with some guidance. And my background...I spent almost 20 years in the restaurant business with start up restaurants so I am very critical of what we do and how we do it. How do we serve the customer? As it relates to Coos Bay again, if you look at it, we put cottages in there and named each one of them after a lighthouse or some other feature along the coast. We put safari tents right on the beach there. None of that stuff was there when we took that property so we dramatically changed everything. People who have been coming there for years have gone “What happened here! This is really cool!” Now most of our reviews are 4 ½ or 5 stars.
The Buzz: Can you talk about brand identity. Highway West has a very specific one but you are also integrated with Cruise Inn. Can you talk about the balance? Kristen from Cruise Inn made a very good point during the conference that marketing is “going out” while branding is “coming in”.
MB: You look at our logo. It's an Airstream and it's a Woody. It says “retro”. Everybody can identify with it...number one. Our experience with it...it's a wonderful image...our experience in branding...we've seen this past year a half dozen reviews where somebody has stayed at one of our properties and experienced good stuff. At Flying Flags...in Buellton, California...they go online to look for a hotel and it is 200 to 300 dollars a night for a Holiday Inn [in that area] which is pretty doggone high...but it's market driven. But[the camper] goes by Moab, Utah and he thinks “I know that flag..that logo...that's the Flying Flags guy...same people.” So they pull in there. We have cottages. We have sites. And they say “We're staying at one of your places”. They come back and write a review. That is brand driven because they saw the logo and they said “I know that. I had a great experience there” and that happens throughout [our parks].
The Buzz: Can you talk about the evolution of the camping industry not unlike the restaurant industry which has been transformed by the food truck explosion...
MB: So I spent the first 20 years of my career with an ownership organization...the biggest in the United States...Thousand Trails. We really catered to that 50 year old who was looking to retire...bought the RV...and were really looking at a place to be in a locale...in an area that was warm in the winter or nice and cool in the summer. They would go to these places. So today, we look at what is going on in the industry and it has changed so dramatically. You have tiny homes. You have Airstreams. You've got safari tents. You have cottages. You have wine cottages. You have small park models. You have all of these different products and there is somebody out there who likes that particular product. I'll give you an example. We have a lot of people that come into our properties and say “I saw your Airstreams...I want to stay in one.” We have redone them so they are really sharp and some are 25 to 30 years old. We spent a lot of money refurbishing them. They come and just stay in it and one lady goes “Wow. You know what drove me here was that Airstream but what keeps me here is that it is such a wonderful experience. I probably won't stay in it [next time] because it doesn't have all the creature comforts of the new ones...but I want to stay in that cottage. I want to stay in that safari tent.” With our safari tents, we have open houses all the time where guests can just come in and look at them. And they say “This is pretty cool.” So it is really transitioning guests into other products that you have. For Millennials who use the Airstreams, they just come back and keep using them. And, as they start to have kids, they [will be] looking at units with lofts in them. So a lot of the product t[we are doing] addresses every segment of the RV vacation camper.
The Buzz: You are dealing with expansion where there are always learning curves. What is the next leap?
MB: Another interesting question. One of the obstacles we see in my existing products is in figuring out that what is left for us is going to be infrastructure. One of the challenges is if it doesn't all have 50amp service and we do that...or 100 amp service. We put it in-conduit when we come back in and it's copper wire so it's there for the [duration]. So many of the campgrounds were scabbed together [initially] with aluminum cable that is [now] broken...so that is one thing. Another [aspect] is failed septic systems that have to be addressed. So we deal with each one of those on a case-by-case basis. Another challenge is getting management that are good business managers. Our properties do upwards of 2 to 3 million a year...and when you have somebody who is kind of remote out there running the deal...you have to have the systems and controls [in place]...and you have to have the trust in that individual. Fortunately over the last 25 years, as a senior guy, I have hired a lot of people. I know companies where there are people I can select them from. What I try to do is try to mix some senior guys and gals with junior managers. Right now we are about 50/50...mature managers that have been doing this for a while that know almost every answer and are teaching to a group of basically Millennials. I mean the Millennials see things that the rest of us don't see. They can do this and this...whatever it is...on that particular property. We just guide them and guide that energy so that at the end of the day we are preparing ourselves for the future. And as they mature a little bit they will go into some of our properties that are keyed in more to their [demographic]...with the same language as the guys coming in.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Oceanside Beachfront RV Resort, which allows guests to easily access Oregon beaches to enjoy whale watching or fishing. Relax at the resort or explore the local museums and wineries that Coos Bay has to offer as well as a variety of rejuvenating on-site amenities including a convenient crab shack.