Why Indexes Matter

Your campground ran 84% occupancy last month. Your comp set ran 80%. So how much better did you actually perform?

You could say you beat the market by four percentage points. Correct. But benchmarking gives us an even cleaner way to look at it.

Here's the formula behind every index OHR calculates:

Using our example: 84% ÷ 80% × 100 = 105. Your occupancy index is 105. Welcome to indexes. They sound complicated. They are not.

The Magic Number Is 100

In benchmarking, 100 represents the market average. That gives you a wonderfully simple scoreboard.

An occupancy index of 105 means your property captured occupancy at about 5% above your comp set's level. An index of 92 means you performed about 8% below the market benchmark. That is a lot easier to digest than staring at six percentages and pretending everyone at the meeting understands what is happening.

Why Not Just Look at Occupancy?

Because relative performance matters. Imagine two campgrounds.

Campground A

You were very full. But you underperformed your market.

Campground B

Campground B was less full than Campground A. But relative to its market, it performed much better. That is exactly why indexes matter. A raw number tells you what happened. An index tells you how you performed relative to the opportunity around you.

Indexes Work Beyond Occupancy

The same concept can be used for other important metrics.

ADR Index

If your ADR is $145 and your comp set ADR is $135:

Your ADR Index is 107. You are achieving a stronger average rate than the market.

RevPAS Index

If your RevPAS is $120 and your comp set's is $110:

Your RevPAS Index is 109. Now we know your overall revenue performance per available site is outperforming the comparable market. That starts telling a much richer story.

One Index Doesn't Tell Everything

Here's where it gets interesting. Imagine your numbers are:

• Occupancy Index: 108
• ADR Index: 91

You are capturing more occupancy than the market, but at a considerably lower rate. That might mean you are pricing too cheaply.

Now flip it:

• Occupancy Index: 92
• ADR Index: 112

You are capturing less occupancy but commanding significantly more rate. Is that good? Maybe. Now we need to look at RevPAS.

This is why benchmarking is not about chasing one magical number. Indexes help you understand the relationship between your performance and the market.

Think of It Like a Golf Handicap

A golf score by itself does not tell the whole story. Shooting an 82 on one course might be fantastic. On another, maybe not so much. The handicap gives the score context.

Indexes do something similar for campground performance. They normalize the comparison. Instead of asking whether 84% occupancy sounds good, you can see immediately whether you performed above or below your relevant market.

It turns "I think we had a pretty good month" into "We achieved an occupancy index of 105 and a RevPAS index of 109." Now we are talking about actual relative performance.

Where OHR Fits

OHR uses benchmarking to help operators understand not only their own numbers, but their position relative to a relevant comp set. Your PMS can tell you your occupancy was 84%. OHR can help you understand what that 84% meant compared with the market. And indexes make that comparison easy.

Remember one number: 100. Above it, you are outperforming. Below it, there may be opportunity. Because the goal is not just to know your score. The goal is to know how you played the course.