Every year, RMS runs the State of the Outdoor Accommodation Report because camper expectations move faster than most operators have time to track. The 2026 report, drawn from 1500 campers across the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, surfaced a clear signal: outdoor accommodation demand continues to be strong, with 66% of campers planning to camp more in the coming year. For the first time, online search has overtaken word of mouth as the way campers discover where to stay. Guests are researching independently, on their own timeline, before they ever pick up the phone. The key takeaway: the booking experience itself has to keep pace with what guests now expect.

What the data says about how campers book

One stat that emerged in the report speaks directly to the booking experience, and it's the standout finding for anyone running a park: 85% of campers are more likely to book when they can choose their exact site in advance.

Most outdoor accommodation booking journeys still ask guests to commit to a site without knowing exactly where they'll be. A camper finds a property online, likes what they see, and then hits a static site map that hasn't been updated since it was first uploaded years ago, or a "request a site" form that goes nowhere fast. That's the exact moment a guest picks up the phone to ask questions, or quietly closes the tab and looks elsewhere.

That friction doesn't stop at the first booking. A returning guest who loved their site last year has no way to simply book it again; they're stuck calling, hoping it's available, or filling in the same vague request form and waiting to hear back. Groups face the same problem multiplied - four families trying to book sites near each other usually means a string of phone calls and emails, with no guarantee the sites they want are actually next to one another.

For the park on the other end of those calls, this isn't just a guest experience problem. It's hours spent manually checking, allocating, and reallocating sites, often for guests who arrive expecting something different from what they end up with anyway.

Here emerges a gap: campers want to see and choose their exact site before they book, but most booking experiences don't allow them to do so.

Close that gap: put your park on the map

RMS Interactive Maps gives guests exactly what that data tells us they want. Instead of a flat image or a form, guests get a live, accurate view of your actual park: they can zoom in, see what's available right now, filter by what matters to them, and flow straight through to payment and booking in just a few taps.

There's then no gap between what a guest expected and what they arrive to find. Returning guests get to rebook their favourite site directly. Groups get to see which sites sit next to each other and book them all together, in one pass, instead of a string of calls and emails.

Your front desk gets its time back, guests confidently pick their perfect site with no guesswork, and rebooking headaches become a thing of the past.

One park that's already made the switch

Barwon Coast Caravan Parks, which manages three parks along more than 22 kilometres of Victoria's coastline, saw this play out during a broader website refresh. The team looked closely at their online booking journey and made two changes: a clearer booking flow, and RMS Interactive Maps, which lets guests see the actual layout of the park and choose their site. The change didn't just improve the guest experience. It reduced pressure on the team fielding questions.

The interactive map has been a real game-changer. Guests can see exactly where they're staying, understand the layout of the park, and choose the site that's right for them. Because the RMS booking engine is clear and easy to use, we're seeing fewer calls from guests, which frees up our team. Pru Farrer, Marketing and Engagement Manager at Barwon Coast.

The interactive map has been a real game-changer. Guests can see exactly where they're staying, understand the layout of the park, and choose the site that's right for them.

Because the RMS booking engine is clear and easy to use, we're seeing fewer calls from guests, which frees up our team.

That's the pattern worth paying attention to: giving guests more visibility and control over their booking doesn't just make guests happier. It gives operators fewer calls to answer, fewer sites to reallocate at the last minute, and more guests arriving already confident in what they booked. For parks that want it, site selection itself can become a source of revenue: some operators choose to charge a small fee for guests who want to lock in their exact spot, the way an airline might charge for seat selection, built directly into the same booking flow.

The takeaway

If 85% of guests are more likely to book when they can choose their exact site, giving them that choice is one of the clearest ways to turn strong demand into more direct bookings. The parks that capture the most of that demand will be the ones that build this choice directly into the booking flow, letting a guest picture their stay before they click to book.