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From Hotels to RV Parks: A Generational Shift

By: Shalin Patel

For decades, Indian Americans have anchored the U.S. hotel industry. A 2021 study by AAHOA and Oxford Economics found that Indian Americans own nearly 60 percent of all hotels in the U.S. That legacy is personal for me.

After more than 10 years working in my family’s business managing a portfolio of double-digit hotels, I saw first-hand the long hours, staffing crunches, operational headaches, and the grind of daily hotel management. I also watched my parents grind it out, building generational wealth through sheer effort.

Now I’m seeing a deliberate pivot from the next generation. More young Indian American owners, who are often more educated than their parents, are moving into RV parks. They’ve found a better way to do business, combining hospitality roots with a smarter, more scalable approach.

The fundamentals are familiar: ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, and an extended stay option. It’s a hospitality strategy applied to a different asset class. It’s our roots, just scaled more efficiently.

And the product itself is evolving. Many luxury RV parks are now adding treehouses, tiny homes, high-end glamping, beautiful cabins/cottages, and lifestyle amenities like boating, pickleball, and even water parks. Travelers, especially younger generations, are seeking unique outdoor experiences, not just a standard hotel room with a free continental breakfast.

What’s driving the shift?

• Stronger margins and steadier cash flow
• Almost recession-proof: RV parks thrived during COVID and economic downturns, while hotels often face significant downtime
• Less time-consuming operations and management
• No franchise rules, annual/semi-annual inspections, brand fees, or costly PIPs
• Lower staffing needs and simpler maintenance
• Hotels face steep construction costs and complex hurdles, while RV parks can often be acquired, improved, and scaled more smoothly

The industry numbers back this up. In 2023, U.S. RV park revenues reached $10.7 billion and are projected to grow to $11.4 billion by 2028, with annual growth of 4.3 percent since 2018. The RV park market was valued at $7.3 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at more than 5 percent annually through 2032. There are now over 15,000 RV parks and campgrounds across the U.S. and Canada, with steady growth since 2018.

In my weekly conversations as an investment advisor at Aline Capital, I hear the same question again and again: given what our parents built through hotels, why not create generational wealth with RV parks, using the same hospitality fundamentals but with more freedom, fewer headaches, and stronger returns?

Hotels helped build dreams. RV parks may be where the next chapter is written, and I’m grateful to be part of that transition.