KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded in 1962 and is based in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

. The current president and CEO of KOA is Toby O’Rourke.

History

KOA was founded in 1962 in

, by businessmen Dave Drum, John Wallace and two other partners. Drum got the idea to start the campgrounds while walking his property along the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains an ...

and seeing travelers heading to the Seattle World's Fair. The first campsites, known as Billings Campground, were located on Drum's property north of the Yellowstone River. For $1.75 per night, campers could pitch their tent on a campsite that included a picnic table and fire ring. This first campground also provided hot showers, restrooms, and a small store. The campground was quickly successful and by the summer of 1963, Drum, Wallace and their partners decided to create a system of campgrounds throughout North America. They named the company Kampgrounds of America and began selling franchises. In 1969, KOA became a public company. By the end of the 1969 camping season, KOA had 262 campgrounds in operation across the U.S. By 1972, 10 years after KOA's creation, KOA had 600 franchise campgrounds. The

1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...

caused the collapse of many travel-oriented businesses, and KOA's stock price became a casualty. New York City financier

Oscar Tang Oscar Liu-Chien Tang () is a Chinese-born American financier who co-founded Reich & Tang, an asset management firm. Tang was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. Prior to this, he was appointed to the New York Sta ...

, a major stockholder at the time, purchased the company in its entirety after the 1979 oil crisis. However, by 1982 KOA franchises had increased to nearly 900. By 2002, after stricter quality standards weeded out many campgrounds, KOA campgrounds numbered almost 500, with most being in the United States. KOA annually inspects each campground with a 600-point inspection, which it claims is the most stringent in the business. In 2015, Jim Rogers stepped down as CEO after 15 years and was replaced by the president of the company, Pat Hittmeier. In April 2019, Hittmeier retired, and was replaced by new CEO Toby O'Rourke, the first woman to hold that position in the company's 57-year history.

In popular culture

In the 1978 movie '' Every Which Way But Loose'', Philo, Orville, Echo, and Clyde stay at a KOA campground in one scene. In Bob Wood's 1988 best selling ''

Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks ''Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks: And All the Wieners In Between'' is a 1988 book by Bob Wood. It was published by McGraw-Hill and covers Wood's trip to all 26 Major League Baseball (at the time) stadiums in one summer Synopsis In 1985 the then- ...

'', he wrote of often staying at KOAs during his travels to every Major League Baseball stadium in one summer. An episode of '' Undercover Boss'' first aired on January 11, 2013, featured KOA CEO Jim Rogers working undercover as Tim, a prospective buyer of a KOA franchise. The Kacey Musgraves song, "My House", includes the lyrics "Any KOA is A-OK as long as I'm with you". In an episode of '' King of the Hill'' that originally aired on May 3, 2010,

Dale Gribble Dale Alvin Gribble (born July 12, 1953) is a fictional character in the Fox animated series ''King of the Hill'', voiced by Johnny Hardwick. He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, owner of Daletech, chain smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believe ...

says, “RVs are one-way tickets to meth addiction and KOA sites, where the law has no meaning.”

References

External links

{{Authority control Franchises Companies based in Montana Billings, Montana Campgrounds in the United States American companies established in 1962 1962 establishments in Montana