The Texas Association of Campground Owners welcomes you to the Official TACO Members site!

>>TACO Winter E-Newsletter<<

We thank you for your interest in Texas / New Mexico Association of Campground Owners. Enclosed please find membership information. Please return all forms and your dues as soon as possible.

Membership to National ARVC is included in your dues. Supporting your State and National Associations protects your rights and enhances benefits to everyone.

TACO/ARVC Membership -
Real Return on Investment
A membership in the Texas Association of Campground Owners pays big dividends! Here are some of the valuable benefits TACO members get ... BY ASSOCIATION!!

~ RV Travel & Camping Guide to Texas and New Mexico - A listing in 265,000+ copies of this widely distributed, popular, annual guide will increase your business.

~ New Mexico RV Travel & Camping Guide - A four-color brochure listing all New Mexico parks and pinpointing them on a travel map. 50,000+ copies printed annually.

~ Texas Saver Card - This unique concept creates a specific connection between TACO members and campers from Texas and New Mexico, across the nation and around the world. Some parks attribute over 50% of their business to these Guides and the Texas Saver Card.

~ TACO & ARVC Web Sites - You get FREE website listings and/or links on several attractive, informative and technologically advanced websites. These include -

www.texascampgrounds.com
www.gocampingamerica.com/texas
www.southwestcampgrounds.com
www.gocampingamerica.com/newmexico
www.campnewmexico.net

~ E-Newsletter - In an effort to increase consumer awareness of TACO member parks, TACO has rolled out a new E-newsletter. This elctronic communique will be sent to a select group of RV enthusiasts on a quarterly basis. Click Here to see the most recent E-Newsletter. For more information on the E-Newsletter Click Here. To sign up to be included in the E-Newsletter, please Click Here

~ Free Website Hosting - The TACO website provider offers members advanced self-managed websites for FREE (with reservation capability) and you never pay an annual hosting fee! The on-line real-time reservation program offered to TACO members is the most efficient and effective in the industry. Plus, you can take advantage of very inexpensive email marketing programs including on-line park newsletters. WOW!

~ Internet Marketing Programs - TACO spends over $15,000 a year to promote its websites on search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN, Lycos, etc which results in an additional 100,000+ visitors to our websites (and our members websites) a year!! We also link to countless websites including www.traveltex.com and will soon have a direct link to their reservation section.

~ Direct Mail Programs - TACO spends in excess of $30,000 a year responding to requests for the RV Travel & Camping Guide to Texas and New Mexico. In addition to Internet and telephone requests we get thousands of requests through the TXDOT Travel Information System (TIS). For a low per piece fee TACO places your campground literature in specific RV Travel & Camping Guide requests. These folks are planning to RV/Camp in Texas - THIS IS TARGET MARKETING AT ITS BEST!

~ Industry Legislation & Advocacy - In the last legislative session alone your association and industry partners spent over $250,000 to protect your rights and allow your customers to enjoy the RV life-style. We abolished the "trailer tax", extended the "Theft of Services law" to include monthly agreements; and clarified "the definition of an RV" so RV park owners are not included in pro-tenant manufactured laws. As individuals this could never occur - as a team it has become a reality! Furthermore, we have a paid government affairs advocate who will be working on other member concerns - the latest being a utility sales tax with the Texas Comptroller's Office. Many other projects are in the works - all for the benefit of our members.

~ Discount Credit Card Processing - Receive discounts on processing major credit card receipts. No hassle setup and no up front fees. TACO's preferred provider has very competitive rates.

~ Supplier Contact - TACO members save money (through many special discount programs) and get treated well by our many preferred suppliers. Click HERE for a complete list. TACO features the largest Trade Show in the Southwest as our annual Spring Meeting. The annual ARVC Trade Show (in Las Vegas this year, November 12-16, 2003) is the industry's largest nation-wide display of businesses serving RV Park owners.

~ Publications -   The TACO Twister and ARVC Report (newsletters) contain industry news, legislative happenings, and revenue generating programs, supplier names and much more. The ARVC membership directory makes it easy to contact your fellow park owners in Texas and around the country.

~ National Government Affairs & Promotion - The Texas representative to the ARVC Board chairs the Government Affairs Committee at ARVC. With ARVC's assistance we coordinate visits to congressional offices every year. ARVC monitors all national bills relating to our industry and seeks our input. ARVC also has a Legal Defense Fund that has helped many TACO members fight local issues. ARVC recently participated in an hour long program on the Travel Channel about the richest RV Parks in America - it was a great infomercial about RVing!!

~ Literature at RV Shows - For a low per piece fee TACO can put your literature in every “RV Travel & Camping Guide” handed out at numerous RV Shows TACO attends across Texas and major National events (like Family Motor Coach rallies).

~ Education - The TACO Spring and Fall meetings plus the annual ARVC convention offers more than 60 informative Certified Park Operator (CPO) seminars each year. The conventions encourage campground owner “networking”. One money saving or revenue generating idea can mean a very big difference to your bottom line.

~ More ARVC Programs - Your TACO membership includes a paid membership to National ARVC. Their many additional benefits include Employee Services, Retirement Planning, National Vendor Discounts and much more - visit www.ARVC.org

Most Important of All Is The Personal Touch - Your membership is not just about advertising in the TACO Guide and the myriad of FREE website marketing plans. All of that is important - but, at the TACO office we field hundreds of calls every year from members who desperately need assistance. We have dealt with everything from marketing questions, to non-payment issues, to rules violations, to abandoned vehicles, to regulatory problems, to parks being sold (or bought), to health issues, to friends passing from this life. Being a source of information and sometimes just an ear to listen is the best part of our program ...BY ASSOCIATION!!