Cary Deccio, Campground Manager At Ruby's Inn, Discusses History, Naturalism And The Ever Present Intention Of Modernity
The texture of pines and well-manicured landscapes marks the entrance to Ruby's Inn RV Park. Located right next to the entrance of Bryce National Park in Southern Utah, the balance of beauty and conservation abounds. The Buzz sat down with Cary Deccio, campground manager at Ruby's to discuss history, naturalism and the ever present intention of modernity.
The Buzz: How did Ruby's Inn RV Park come about?
Cary Deccio: The campground itself was originally located down by Ruby’s Inn, next to a small irrigation lake, and all the sites were located around the bank of that lake—it was quite small back then. But today, we’re much more than just a campground. A lot of places [around here] have a trailer park, and that’s about it. Ruby’s Inn itself has been around since 1916 [as a lodge]. The campground has been around since 1950’s. Back then, it was just a few tents, but the current location [including RV sites] has been around since 1987.
The Buzz: How did you get into the campground business?
CD: I actually had no experience with campgrounds and trailer parks. I came here in 2009. Before that, I worked in hotels and various hospitalities for a long time. In 1994, I worked in several hotels in both Hawaii and Las Vegas. (Editor’s Note: He was Director Of Training at MGM Grand for 4 years) [The connection between the hotel and campground business] is very similar in lot of ways. The way we do things in the hotel are similar to Ruby’s Inn. I definitely transitioned easily, but I’ve learned a lot.
The Buzz: What kind of cross section of people come to the park and what do you find they respond to?
CD: We do get have quite a diverse group. We get a lot of people from the Wasatch Front (located near Brigham City) —which is probably our number one domestic market.
The Buzz: Why do you feel that Bryce National Park is so unique compared with some of the other parks in the area?
CD: Bryce is a much smaller park than Zion. It’s more distant than any other national park because of the way [you perceive it]. It takes your breath away because you are actually looking down—much like the Grand Canyon. We get lots of comments from people saying that they think Bryce is better than Zion or even the Grand Canyon -- mainly because it’s so unique. Bryce also has a lot of trails and its very user friendly. If people are older and don’t want to hike, Bryce [also] has different viewpoints [including Sunset Point and Inspiration Point] so that these people don’t have to go down into the trails. All the formations are made out of limestone which been eroded through natural processes of wind, water, and ice.
The Buzz: Can you tell me a little bit about the challenges you’ve faced as a manager/owner in the RV campground business?
CD: Wi-Fi [of course] has been a bit of a challenge. It’s expected in our industry and it’s expected to be perfect. It’s much different to put up a Wi-Fi system in a hotel, for instance, as opposed to nature. People have high expectations for Wi-Fi even when they’re out in the middle of nowhere.
In keeping up with technology in general, we’re on our second PMS (Property Management System). When I first got here, they did everything by hand. One of my first tasks was to find a computer system. No only do we need to keep up with our internal management system, but we also have to make sure we have a presence on the web.
The Buzz: On the other hand, what are some of the successes you’ve seen over the years?
CD: We’re a family business. When you look at it like any other business, you only have so many capital dollars. [The point becomes that] we have to decide what we should invest in, as far as infrastructure and other things that generate revenue. It’s been a challenge, but also a great opportunity. Since I’ve been here, we’ve done a lot of updating around the campground which has given us a lot of financial success. We built a new half million dollar bathroom facility with showers for the guests. There are new sites where we’ve put in new trees, grass, and new landscaping. Every time you do something like that, you bring value to the park and increasing your elasticity of demand [which allows you to] charge a little more. Every year, I look at what the competition is doing, where we are in the market, and where I think we should be.
Jerry Olsen
A graduate of University Of Utah in Journalism, Jerry has written for Green Markets & The Intermountain Commercial Register among others. He enjoys staying active as well as fishing, skiing and hiking.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Ruby's Inn RV Park, with parking available for RVs, camp trailers and campers. All of the 250 shady and open campsites have electric and water, or FULL hook-ups as well as a large pull-through area.