New Orleans KOA is celebrating one year under new ownership!

Award-Winning River Ridge, LA, KOA Campground Under New Ownership

KOA News Service (August 15, 2024) — Kampgrounds of America is pleased to welcome Deborah and Michael Dunn, new owners of the New Orleans KOA Holiday, to the KOA family of campgrounds.

“We began our journey with KOA as customers 25 years ago,” says Deborah. “We’ve always been KOA campers. We loved KOA so much that we began our careers with KOA in the Work Kamper program. Michael became the manager at this campground and now we own it. Our whole life has been KOAs, even our honeymoon was at a KOA!”

Michael has been running the New Orleans KOA Holiday for twelve years, so although technically they’re new owners, Deborah says they’ve felt a sense of ownership of the campground for far longer.  

“For at least five or six years now we’ve been running this campground without much participation from the former owners, we were running it like it was our own park.”

Now that they are the owners, Deborah says they are focused on educating campers about the uniqueness of their park. Many campers are drawn to New Orleans, and they aim to highlight the special features and amenities available on-site at their campground. For example, to accommodate campers wanting to explore New Orleans, the campground offers a shuttle to the French Quarter four times daily. They also have a concierge desk that sells tours and books guests' vacations.

The Dunns have completed numerous remodeling and upgrading projects over the years, with more planned. Recent and ongoing projects include remodeling the laundry room with new machines, adding outdoor sinks, installing new electric pedestals after storm damage, introducing all-new Polywood patio furniture, building a new KampK9® to replace one destroyed by a hurricane, updating the playground and adding a Gaga ball bit and updating various sites. They have remodeled their front office and are in the process of remodeling their lodge.

“Our goal is to convert all the sites in our front row to KOA Patio Sites®. Originally, we had about nine or ten. We've added new furniture to the existing Patio Sites and plan to make at least four of the front row sites Paw Pen Sites,” she says. “We've also added a recreation hall with more comfortable furniture, better TVs, and a foosball table. Outside, we've installed flagpoles, redone several concrete sites, and improved part of the road to be more camper-friendly."

To enhance the guest experience, the campground offers a popular on-site dog-walking service for campers visiting the city. The campground has partnered with an RV wash service that cleans campers' RVs right at their site. The couple has purchased a second shuttle van to ensure guest transportation even if the first one is down or full. Future plans include remodeling the bathhouse and improving access to the back road. They’ve also introduced a new favorite amenity for campers: a partnership with the Boil Bus. The Boil Bus is an outside business that is available part of the year to come in and deliver a Crawfish boil directly to guests' campsites. Deborah says they also partner with a few RV repair services that guests can reserve to have them come repair their RVs on site.

KOA Holiday campgrounds are wonderful base camps for exploring the area or just a fun place to stay with lots of activities. KOA Holiday parks have amenities and services to make stays memorable, whether it’s a longer stay or just overnight. Each KOA Holiday features full-service RV Sites with a KOA Patio and KOA Deluxe Cabins with full bathrooms.

Located at 11129 Jefferson Highway in River Ridge, the New Orleans KOA Holiday received the 2024 KOA Founder’s and President’s award for achieving world-class scores and meeting exceptional quality standards. It is open all year.