Starting on January 1, 2024, an amendment to Florida Statute 258.014(2) changes the reservation system for State Parks affecting both Florida and Non-Florida residents. The new law essentially gives Florida residents a leg-up by allowing them a one-month advantage over non-residents for booking their camping stays. Floridians can now book 11 months out for their preferred dates while non-residents are restricted to a 10-month reservation window. So how much will this affect the RV world? Already we’re seeing popular parks around Orlando and the coast fill up with short weekend stays by the locals while leaving open availability during the week. Logically this would mean that out-of-towners, specifically snowbirds, wouldn’t be able to book extended stays, in the same spot. Additionally, the 30-day discrepancy has now made it harder for visitors to plan any type of park-to-park travel, say from one side of the state to the other, because many of the dates are already booked.
We’re not quite sure how this one is going to play out, but if non-residents are left scrambling to piece together their planned trip there might end up being vacant mid-week reservation pockets, which in turn could lead to price increases to make up the lost revenue. In an already inflated economy, simple price increases and difficulty booking campsites has the potential to greatly impact the RV community.