Airstream, KOA bring ‘luxury camping’ to Strip

By Richard N. Velotta

Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 | 2 a.m.

You’ve heard about camping on the Strip and luxurious rooms on the Strip. But now, thanks to a new partnership between Airstream and KOA Kampgrounds, visitors can camp in luxurious accommodations on the Strip.

Airstream, considered the Cadillac of the travel trailers, has 10 of its 25-foot Flying Clouds at KOA’s 366-space RV Park adjacent to the Circus Circus.

The concept, rolled out in January in Las Vegas and Key West, Fla., gives KOA franchise holders the opportunity to acquire Airstream trailers at a discount and rent them to campers who want to try one of the $50,000 units.

Under the agreement, franchise holders can acquire as many of the trailers as they want for their campgrounds.

“Even in Las Vegas, there are some people who just like to camp out,” said Shane Ott, president and chief operating officer of Billings, Mont.-based KOA.

Ott said he expects the partnership to flourish because it gives KOA a new offering, it enables Airstream to show off its product and it enables Las Vegas visitors to have

another Strip lodging option. The campground already has an occupancy rate of 70 percent.

During the first month, the Airstreams will be rented for $45 a night, but Ott said when the concept catches on he expects they’ll go “for somewhere north of $100 a night.”

Las Vegas was a perfect rollout location for the plan, Ott said, because 4 percent of KOA’s most loyal customer base resides in the Los Angeles area and he thinks Southern California campers will embrace the Airstreams.

The Airstreams are among the most popular travel trailers in Europe, and Ott said efforts would be made to market the Circus Circus units to Europeans planning a Las Vegas stopover.

“We look at this as the best of both worlds,” Ott said. “You can enjoy the benefits of camping. You can grill outside, right next to where you’re staying. You can meet up with people who share that lifestyle. There’s a well-stocked convenience store in the campground and, if you want, you can just walk over to the hotel for your entertainment.

“And then, when you’re done for the day, you’ve got very comfortable accommodations.”

And comfortable they are.

Each Circus Circus trailer has different decor, but all have a galley with a stove, a refrigerator, kitchen pantries, a 48-by-78-inch bed, two flat-screen TVs (with cable hookup), a lavatory and shower and a dinette that converts to a 38-by-76-inch sleeping area.

Airstream trailers are applauded for their durability and their iconic aircraft-fuselage-shaped aerodynamic design is credited for better fuel economy for their tow vehicles.

But the Circus Circus Airstreams aren’t going anywhere. When people rent them, they won’t be allowed to remove them from the park.

The only movement that could occur, Ott said, is to move them within a park to a more scenic parking space. Ott said trailers at the Key West location, for example, could be moved to an ocean-view parking space for a premium price.

Ott and Bob Wheeler, president of Jackson Center, Ohio-based Airstream Inc., were in Las Vegas for the kickoff of the new program, which featured the planting of dozens of plastic pink flamingos, one of Airstream’s corporate symbols.