| By Michael Wacht
LEESBURG — In an effort to reduce operating
losses at the Florida Conference’s camp properties, the conference’s
camp facilities committee adopted a new policy that will require
groups using the camps to take more responsibility for providing an
accurate estimate of their needs.
The policies are now in effect and apply to all
new contracts.
“The new policy will shift the risk from the
camps to the folks using the camps,” said John Peterson, the
committee’s chairman. “The camps operated at a significant loss
last year…because of lost opportunities. If we reduce that, we can
reduce the loss at the camps and get off the conference subsidy.”
The new policy requires that all groups using
any of the conference’s four camp facilities give a hard count of
the number of reservations expected 60 days prior to the start of
their event. “The hard count…is a number the groups are
responsible for,” Peterson said.
If a group reduces the number of reservations at
any time between 60 days and 48 hours prior to the beginning of an
event, the group will forfeit one night’s lodging and a $2.50 meal
surcharge for each cancelled reservation. If a group reduces its
numbers within 48 hours of the start of the event, it will be
responsible for the full cost of each reservation.
A “total event cancellation” will result in
a prorated charge to the group, depending on how far out the event was
cancelled, according to MichÈl D’Annecy, the camps’ executive
director.
The new policy also establishes a schedule of
deposits for groups reserving space. Non-United Methodist groups are
required to make a deposit of 10 percent of the total anticipated
revenue when they first book an event, D’Annecy said. At 60 days
prior to the event, groups are required to pay 50 percent of their
cost.
United Methodist groups will have to make the
same financial and numerical commitments, but the deposits will be “an
amount to be billed” to the group rather than an up-front cash
commitment, Peterson said.
The new policies are designed to create more of
a spirit of cooperation between the facilities and the groups using
them, according to D’Annecy. “My job is to maximize the sale and
use of my facilities,” he said. “I cannot do that with short
notice of cancellations.”
In the past several years, the facilities have
had a high rate of “lost opportunity income.” When a group cancels
rooms and the staff is unable to resell those rooms the revenue from
the cancelled rooms is considered lost opportunity income.
With more advance notice of cancellations D’Annecy
says his staff will have more time to offer that space to other groups
that have expressed interest. He also said he and his staff have
records from past events and are willing to help groups determine what
their attendance will be based on past trends.
“We can educate groups if they come and want
help,” he said.
The Florida Conference operates four camping
facilities. The Warren W. Willis Camp and Life Enrichment Center are
located in Leesburg. The South Florida Camp is in Alva, east of Ft.
Myers, and the Lake Asbury Retreat Center is in Green Cove Springs,
south of Jacksonville.
Donna Thornton, general manager of the Leesburg
facilities, says the camps provide “a Christian setting on holy
ground for people to come experience faith and fellowship…where
people can feel at home and experience a one-on-one relationship with
Christ.”
Thornton said the facilities are equipped to
handle individuals, couples or small groups that want time away or
retreat events for as many as 1,200 people. They are also available to
any group regardless of church affiliation. |
