You want to operate a campground? Here are some tips and general information that will guide you if you want to open a campground or buy an existing one.

Since 2003, campgrounds needs to be classify in order to correspond to the government requirements . On the other hand, you must comply with various acts and regulations before opening a campground, e.g. the Environment Quality Act, the Act to Preserve Agricultural Land , the Public Buildings Safety Act, the Drinking Water Regulations and Public Baths Regulations, etc.

• Opening a new campground
• Buying an existing campground
• Rating
• Resource persons
• Background information
• Profile of a campground operator

Opening a new campground

If you are buying land without campground-related facilities, there are two steps you must follow before investing time and money in your project.

• First, you must get information from the municipal inspector to ensure that the project does not contravene municipal by-laws related to land use.
• Second, make sure that you comply with environmental standards. What sewage treatment system will be used? Find out whether the campground can be connected to the municipal sewer system, as this is the most economical way to dispose of waste effluent. If you don't want your campground to be connected to the municipal sewer system, you must have your own sewage treatment system, regardless of the type of campground you are developing (e.g., rustic).
• To assess the cost of your treatment system, start by determining the number of sites you plan to build for the whole project. Then contact an engineer who will obtain approval of the plans and specifications from your local Environment Department office. Under the Environment Quality Act, the plans must be done by an engineer. The theoretical discharge values currently used are 340 litres/day/site with services and 190 litres/day/site without services. These values do not include leakage of water into the system from other sources.

You must have a business plan before you design a campground development plan, as it will help you understand your company's business environment.

We suggest that you hire a recreation planner before planning your facilities. On the other hand, if you want to develop or simply obtain information about developing a campground, a whole chapter of the Guide de gestion de l'exploitant de terrain de camping is devoted to that subject.

Buying an existing campground

Purchasing a campground may represent a good investment, especially if it is well located. Decide on the type of campground and the region that interest you and the amount of money you wish to invest.

Appearances can be deceptive. If you wish to buy a campground, examine all the options and the fair market value of each.

Contact professionals or other qualified persons who will guide you through the process. Information about buying an existing campground is available in the Guide de gestion de l'exploitant de terrain de camping.

Make sure that the campground complies with environmental standards for drinking water and wastewater disposal. If you buy a campground without any knowledge of the condition of the sewer system, one day you may need to comply with environmental standards on short notice. This can be expensive!

Also check whether the campground is rated and ask for the results of the classification survey. The Rating Program may inform you about the campground services currently available or potential services that could be offered.

Rating

In addition of being obligatory, the ratings issued by the Conseil de Développement du Camping au Québec (CDCQ) have been the perfect way to obtain all kinds of services for campgrounds: you become a member of Camping Québec, your name is published in the CDCQ's Campground Guide , your campground's name is printed on road signs and published in most regional tourist association guides, etc. To obtain a copy of the latest edition of the Guide, call (514) 252-3333.

Resource persons

When planning and operating your campground, you are bound to need services from one or more consultants. Camping Québec offers you a list of resource persons in its SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY .

You should talk to several consultants before hiring one. To make a wise decision, check their background experience and listen to recommendations from other campground owners. As much as possible, always choose resource persons with experience in the camping industry.

Background information

• Guide de gestion de l'exploitant de terrain de camping, Camping Québec, 150 pages. ($185 + taxes and shipping)
• Statistics are also available in the Industry Data section.

Profile of a campground operator

So you want to operate a campground? Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and put your shoulder to the wheel, right away. Hard work is the only way to successfully operate a campground. It calls for huge amounts of time, money and effort. Don't think that you can take a six-month vacation every year just because this is a seasonal industry! A camping season has to be planned. Expect three months of work to open a campground and three more months to close it. During the season, a 40-hour work week no longer exists. In fact, there's no point in even counting the hours.

Are you ready to put in enough effort to make it work? Are you sure it's worth it? Do you feel that you have what it takes? Have you weighed the pros and cons? If you answered in the affirmative to these questions, you are a potential candidate.

Operating a campground is just like any other business: it requires financial and managerial skills. It takes time, patience and a lot of perseverance to obtain operating results that you can be proud of. Count on a tremendous amount of work. Take your time, talk about it with campground owners, ask questions, tour their campgrounds and take notes. Measure what you see against what you want. Visualize it!