AGS satisfies a 44% jump in demand for printed campground guides , while becoming carbon neutral
AGS continues to see record demand for its guest guides with a 44% increase in demand for its printed guest guides for campgrounds, RV parks and resorts across the U.S., according to a press release.
“Camper nights are up and campers are snatching up our printed guest guides in record numbers,” said Brian Schaeffer, president and CEO of AGS, noting that his company produced 1,355,500 guest guides through June, a 44.2% increase over the 940,000 guides produced during the same period last year.
AGS has kept up with record demand for its printed guides at a time when paper has been in short supply across the country due to pandemic-related supply chain issues and decisions by several printing companies to close regular print operations to simply produce shipping boxes for Amazon and other companies.
“Keeping up with a 44% increase in demand for our printed guides is an especially remarkable achievement considering the soaring paper costs and paper shortages that are being experienced across the country,” Schaeffer said.
While the actual cost of paper is obviously beyond AGS’s control, the company has taken steps including the pre-purchase of large quantities of paper, to ensure that its distributors, parks and park guests can have access to the latest guest guides in a timely manner.
Moreover, AGS has adopted and exceeded a position of Carbon Neutrality, according to the release.
“The environment and what we will leave our children and our precious grandchildren is important,” Schaeffer exclaimed, adding, “We have balanced the need for letting our parks provide current information to their guests with protecting the environment.”
AGS has partnered with One Tree Planted, which plants one tree for every dollar it receives in donations.
“We are donating funds to One Tree Planted this year that will cover 10 times our paper needs,” Schaeffer said.
AGS designs and produces guest guides for nearly 1,000 private parks across the U.S and Canada. Parks hand out the printed guides to their guests when they check in. The content from the guides is also available online, both through the parks’ websites, as well as through the company’s national trip planning site – www.EnhancedCamping.com. The guides typically include park layouts, park rules and regulations, as well as info about restaurants and other essential services plus fun things to see and do in the area, noted the release.
Most AGS customers receive their guest guides for free. AGS sales reps team up with park operators to identify the best local restaurants, dog groomers, RV repair shops, urgent care facilities and other local services and attractions that would benefit from exposure in the guides. When the AGS sales teams secure enough advertising to cover the cost of producing each guide, which is usually the case, park operators receive the printed guides for free.
AGS also provides park operators with AGS loyalty dollars when enough advertising is secured and those loyalty dollars can be used to purchase everything from rack cards to uniform shirts, advertising, promo items, park charities…etc.