How do I find out if an RV park relies on online booking platforms for reservations?
Ask the seller for reservation records sorted by where each booking came from, such as the park’s own website, phone, walk-ins or an outside platform. Then compare that split against the platform accounts themselves, so you see how much of the income depends on someone else’s site.
Start with the booking system’s export. Ask for a season of reservations with a column showing the source of each one. If the seller cannot produce that, treat it as a finding in itself, because it means nobody has been tracking where guests come from. Ask the seller to walk you through a few recent reservations from start to finish, so you see how each one arrived and was confirmed.
Next, ask who owns the accounts. Platform listings, the reservation software login and the park’s own domain should all be in the business’s name, not a personal email address the seller will keep. Ask whether the listings carry reviews that would stay behind or move with the sale, and whether the platforms allow a change of owner at all.
Look at the commissions and fees the platforms take, and see where they show up in the financial statements. A park that fills mostly through outside sites may report healthy revenue but thinner margins than it first appears. Ask how many guests return directly each year, since repeat guests who book by phone or through the park’s own page are less exposed if a platform changes its rules or ranking.
Key takeaways
- Request reservations sorted by booking source, not just total nights sold.
- Confirm the platform accounts, domain and software login belong to the business.
- Check how platform fees appear in the financial statements before judging margins.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentBusiness continuity plan (BCP) in 8 steps, with templates
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