2025 Idaho Camping Reservations Paused, One Company Will Now Manage Both IDPR and IDFG Databases

All 2025 Idaho camping, cabin, and yurt reservations through the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation will be paused starting next week on August 1, 2024. The “pause” is to allow for the department to change reservation system companies.

During the quarterly meeting in April 2024, the board of IDPR accepted and adopted the staff recommendation to award the reservation system contract to a new company, Brandt Information Services, LLC (Brandt).

The background from the staff report explains,

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“IDPR uses a Software as a Service (SaaS) contractor to manage operational items including camping reservations, moorage reservations, permit sales, and point of sale services. IDPR started with the current SaaS contract in 2008 and has continued renewing the contract without a new price negotiation. The latest contract renewal in 2019 included the addition of online permit/sticker sales and a five-year contract term. The current contract will expire on December 31st, 2024.

With the improvements in technology and greater number of SaaS providers in the market, IDPR determined that it was well past time to explore other SaaS options. IDPR staff started working on the Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2022 and opened it up for bid on December 19th, 2023.”

The report goes on to say that four companies submitted bids for the contract: Aspira, Brandt, Camis, and Tyler Technology. It explains the pros and cons of each contender and concludes by saying,

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“Brandt has a noticeably better customer and staff interface for their system. Brandt’s dynamic pricing capability meets the board’s intent. Brandt’s proposal also solves some financial backend issues and smaller operational issues that staff currently address. This is the same SaaS contractor used by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.”

It also noted,

“IDPR would save approximately $331,906.50 per year from what we are paying now.”

The staff recommendation was to award the contract to Brandt.

“IDPR staff are aware that there are many challenges with changing to a new SaaS both on the side of IDPR staff and our customers. There will be disruptions as we transition but IDPR staff will do all we can to mitigate them. Overall, the significant technological improvements and cost savings being offered by Brandt far outweigh the challenges we will face implementing this SaaS. Staff recommend that the board authorize the IDPR director to move forward with awarding a three-year initial contract with two possible yearly extensions to Brandt Information Services, LLC.”

You can review the staff report here.

Brandt is the same company used by Idaho Department of Fish and Game for their licensing and sales. During the discussion in the April 2024 IDPR board meeting, a IDFG employee shared their experience.

“Director Buxton acknowledged that Idaho Fish and Game staff were in the room, and they currently use this software. Director Buxton asked what their experience was with Brandt. Amber Worthington, Deputy Director with Fish and Game introduced herself and said that her experience with Brandt has had some challenges, but they have made every effort to fix any issues that they come across. Ms. Worthington said they have had some issues with big sales this year and Brandt has done a good job providing improvements. Ms. Worthington said Brandt is very responsive. Chairman Beckley and Director Buxton both thanked Ms. Worthington for her input.”

Seth Hobbs, Reservation & Registration Program Manager for IDPR, presented the report recommending Brandt to the board. The minutes show the exchange between the chairman and Hobbs.

“Chairman Beckley asked about the transition and Mr. Hobbs explained it will be very painful for the staff, but they will get through it. There will be a blackout period (September through January) and retraining with the vendors. The vendors make up about 50 percent of our sales. Mr. Hobbs said they have the resources, and he has a great team and will be able to get this done.”

IDPR Board Member Roach made the motion to grant the contract to Brandt. The board voted unanimously in favor. You can see the minutes in their entirety here.

The blackout period will be from August 1, 2024 until 8am Mountain Time on January 6, 2025 while Brandt is implementing and launching their new system. During that time, no camping, cabin, or yurt reservations can be made for the 2025 calendar year. Reservations for 2024 will not be affected by the blackout.

You can find the IDPR news release with the information here.

Brandt’s announcement of winning the contract was published on their website on April 29, 2024. It explains,

“This contract entails the development of a comprehensive statewide recreational vehicle/vessel registration, campground reservation, and retail management system, leveraging a centralized database to oversee Idaho’s thirty (30) park locations, historical sites, and facilities statewide.”

It goes on to say,

“Supporting IDPR’s vision for a customer-centric and data-driven approach, Brandt will provide an integrated web-based suite of applications for managing reservations, ticketing, recreational registrations, retail purchases, and point-of-sale services across Idaho State Parks. This includes registrations for boats, snowmobiles, and off-highway vehicles, as well as campground reservations/camping for campsites, cabins, yurts, houses, cottages, and day-use facilities.”

Brandt CEO Travis Warren added,

“We are thrilled to have been chosen to deploy our reservations platform in the beautiful state of Idaho. Our mission is to transform the outdoor recreational experience for all. Similar to our partnership with Idaho Fish and Game, we eagerly anticipate bringing our expertise in reservations and registrations to the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.”

It concludes by saying,

“Brandt’s platform will increase registration compliance, campground occupancy, foster loyalty, drive revenue growth, and improve the quality of customer experiences through outdoor recreation and resource stewardship.”

You can find the Brandt announcement here.

This video, “Why Brandt” makes the pitch for the perks of the company in under two minutes. At the 1:12 minute mark, it says,

“We actively collect and analyze customer data… Data that can lead to valuable marketing insights and grow sales.”

With IDFG and IDPR both using Brandt, all state park activities, fish and game activities, recreational vehicles, and recreational reservations will be in databases within one company with the customer data becoming a revenue stream.

On June 5, 2024 Brandt announced a “new equity investment to fuel continued growth as a leading technology solutions provider to outdoor recreation market.”

“Brandt Information Services, a leading provider of outdoor recreational technology platforms, today announced an equity investment from Providence Equity Partners, a premier private equity firm specializing in growth-oriented investments in media, communications, education and technology.”

The Brandt announcement says,

“Since its founding in 1989, Providence has invested over $36 billion across more than 175 private equity portfolio companies.”

Providence is also a company that boasts its ESG Guidelines and Diversity and Inclusion policies, which it says extends to its portfolio companies. Brandt, who will now control the databases of Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game and Parks and Recreation is one such portfolio company.

“These guidelines grew out of a dialogue between members of the American Investment Council and a group of major institutional investors, under the auspices of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. Our ESG policy, adopted in 2022, reflects and supersedes our prior ESG guidelines.”

“Our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) committee leads Providence’s efforts to build and preserve a diverse culture within our firm and assist with the diversity efforts of our portfolio companies.”

Their DEI/ESG page includes this graphic, which shows Environmental Social Governance at the center, with Diversity and Inclusion listed under the Social section, Data Collection under Governance, and the environment under Environmental.

You will recall Idaho Dispatch did several articles on DEI and ESG as it pertains to the news media, such as this one, which explains the origin of ESG, the United Nations.

“ESG is an abbreviation that was first used by the United Nations in reference to what they describe as responsibilities of people and companies in being a “global citizen.” It is difficult to track down the first use of the term ESG, but it is believed to have originated in United Nations documents dating back three decades or more. You can browse some of the UN information here: Economic and Social Council.”

In the same article is a video by Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth in which she says,

“It is not hard to see how these ESG rating criteria can negatively affect Idaho and our industries. It is important that we protect our state and our businesses.”