25 Outdoor Hospitality Players to Watch in 2025 - Part 3 (17-25)
Highlighting some investors and operators making waves in the industry, in alphabetical order.
Estimated time to read: 5 minutes
TL;DR:
We recently sent out a survey for outdoor hospitality investors & developers (we’re only able to discuss opportunities with accredited investors at this time): Outdoor Hospitality Investor/Developer Survey (Click here and fill this out to see opportunities)
Below is the final part of a 3-part series featuring 9 operators and investors that are poised to make a splash in 2025. They are listed alphabetically. (Click here for Part 1, and click here for Part 2.)
Side note:
Since last week, we released a podcast interview with Kevin Thueson of KCN Campgrounds:
Owning a Multi-Park KOA Portfolio with Kevin Thueson, CEO of KCN Campgrounds
This is not intended to be an all-encompassing list. It is an alphabetical continuation of Parts 1 and 2 of this list. If there is a group you think I missed, please comment!
17. Northgate Holdings/Northgate Resorts
Through their parent company, Northgate Holdings, Northgate Resorts has become the gold standard for vertically integrated outdoor hospitality operators. Northgate Holdings was founded in 1993 and is led by partners James Bossenbroek, Zach Bossenbroek, and Caleb Hartung. Northgate Resorts was founded in 2013 and is active in development, operates a portfolio of 33 camp resorts, and is the largest Jellystone Park operator in the US. They also announced a new offering of third-party management in late 2023.
Northgate Holdings also owns Campspot and White Pine Digital, so they have outdoor hospitality management software, bookings marketplace, and digital marketing covered, too.
Check out the Northgate Holdings website here.
Check out the Northgate Resorts website here.
18. Open Road Resorts
I’ve been fortunate to spend some time with some of the Open Road Resorts team, and I can tell you they’re the real deal. James Omstrom founded the business with Chase Becker in 2019. They’ve attracted investment from an impressive lineup, including L Catterton, THOR Industries, Long Light Capital, and Chesapeake Partners. They now operate 5 RV parks.
Stay tuned for big things from this team in 2025 and beyond!
Check out the Open Road Resorts website here.
19. Outbound Hotels
Waterton (founded by David Schwartz and Peter Vilim) launched Outbound Hotels in late 2023. Outbound now has three locations, with a fourth coming soon. Across its three operating locations, Outbound offers traditional hotel rooms, suites, cabins, cottages, and RV sites.
Check out the Outbound Hotels website here.
20. Postcard Cabins
We’ve written quite a bit about Postcard Cabins (formerly Getaway):
LinkedIn Article: THE STORY OF POSTCARD CABINS (FORMERLY GETAWAY)
Twitter Thread: THE STORY OF POSTCARD CABINS (FORMERLY GETAWAY)
With the Marriott acquisition, I’m staying tuned to see what happens next.
Check out the Postcard Cabins website here.
21. RESET Hotel
RESET Hotel is a visionary hospitality brand co-founded by Creative Director Ben Uyeda. Their flagship location is opening soon on 180 acres adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, CA. RESET features 65 steel-frame modular hotel rooms and amenities, including:
Mountain view pool
Poolside cabanas and bar
All-day dining and cocktails
180 acres of uninterrupted desert
EV chargers
Co-working space
Outdoor event space
outdoor sculpture park
Stay tuned for the opening and potential news about more locations in 2025!
Check out the RESET Hotel website here.
22. RREAF Holdings
RREAF Holdings, founded by Kip Sowden in 2010, launched its Outdoor Living platform in 2023 with a $157 million acquisition of 5 premium RV resorts. I expect more acquisitions from them in the future!
Check out the RREAF Holdings Outdoor Living website here.
23. SomaBuild
After ~5 years directing development at Postcard Cabins (formerly Getaway), Sam Morton founded SomaBuild, Inc. in 2021. Since then, SomaBuild has directed the development of $100MM+ in outdoor and experiential hospitality projects, including campgrounds, RV parks, glamping, and large-scale, high-end resorts (including RESET Hotel above).
Stay tuned for more awesome projects from SomaBuild!
Check out the SomaBuild website here.
24. Trailborn
Michael Weiss and Ben Weinberg are Co-Founders and Co-CEOs at both Trailborn and Castle Peak Holdings. Castle Peak Holdings is a real estate investment platform focused on hospitality, and Trailborn is a brand/portfolio of four (soon to be five) boutique hotels that serve as basecamps for the outdoors.
Trailborn notably executed a long-term agreement with Marriott that was announced along with the Postcard Cabins deal.
Check out the Trailborn website here.
25. Whitman Peterson/AutoCamp
Whitman Peterson, founded by Bob Whitman, Wes Whitman, and Joel Peterson in 2010, led a $115MM investment in iconic outdoor hospitality brand AutoCamp (that features custom Airstream RVs as luxury accommodations) in 2019, which included Thor Industries, Inc. (the maker of Airstream). In 2024, AutoCamp announced a deal with Hilton that added AutoCamp to the Hilton network and rewards program. AutoCamp was founded by Neil Dipaola in 2013 and currently has 8 operating locations, with 1 coming soon.
Check out the Whitman Peterson website here.
Check out the AutoCamp website here.
That’s all for this week. Thank you so much for reading!
PS… If you’re enjoying Outdoor Hospitality Weekly, will you take a moment to send this newsletter to a friend? It will help us grow the newsletter (and hopefully help people who want to learn about Outdoor Hospitality).
We’d also love your input on making Outdoor Hospitality Weekly even more useful for you! So please leave a comment with:
Ideas you’d like covered in future editions
Your biggest takeaway from this edition
We read & reply to every single one of them!