In Brief: Choice Hotels’ planned acquisition of RV membership platform Harvest Hosts moves the hotel franchisor into a travel category well beyond the traditional hotel room — and adds to a broader push by major hotel companies to capture outdoor travel through their loyalty, distribution and membership platforms.
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Choice Hotels’ $130 Million Harvest Hosts Deal Signals Hotel Industry’s Push Into Outdoor Travel – Image Credit Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International has agreed to acquire Harvest Hosts for approximately $130 million, giving the hotel franchisor a direct position in the growing market for recreational vehicle and outdoor travel.
The all-cash transaction, announced September 30, will give Choice 100% ownership of Harvest Hosts, which operates a membership platform connecting RV travelers with more than 11,200 overnight locations, including farms, wineries, breweries, museums and other attractions. The transaction is expected to close October 1, subject to customary closing conditions.
The acquisition’s significance extends beyond the size of the transaction. Choice is effectively applying a familiar hotel industry strategy — asset-light growth supported by a large loyalty program and distribution network — to a category where travelers may not stay in a hotel at all.
It also makes Choice the latest major hotel company to expand deeper into outdoor hospitality.
Hotel companies are moving beyond hotels
Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt have all established positions in outdoor lodging in recent years, although their approaches differ.
Marriott acquired the Getaway outdoor lodging brand in 2024, including 29 cabin locations and subsequently rebranded the business as Postcard Cabins. It also entered into a long-term agreement with outdoor hospitality company Trailborn. Those businesses now form the foundation of the Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy, which includes cabins and boutique hotels near national parks, mountain destinations and other outdoor locations.
Hilton took a partnership approach, integrating AutoCamp properties into its booking and Hilton Honors ecosystem. AutoCamp operates outdoor resorts featuring Airstream accommodations, cabins and luxury tents near destinations including Yosemite, Zion, Joshua Tree and Cape Cod. Hilton Honors members can book the properties through Hilton channels and earn points and receive loyalty benefits.
Hyatt has similarly extended World of Hyatt into outdoor hospitality through its alliance with Under Canvas. What began with 13 outdoor resorts in 2024 has expanded: as of 2026, World of Hyatt members can earn and redeem points across 14 Under Canvas locations as well as ULUM Moab and additional outdoor properties.
Choice’s Harvest Hosts transaction goes a step further into the RV market.
Unlike outdoor hospitality businesses built around cabins, tents or Airstream accommodations supplied by the operator, Harvest Hosts primarily connects travelers who already have their own accommodations — their RVs — with places to stay overnight.
That makes the acquisition an unusual extension of the hotel industry’s traditional definition of lodging.
Loyalty may be the bigger opportunity
Choice says considerable overlap already exists between its existing customers and RV travelers. According to the company, Choice Privileges members are more likely than the broader population to participate in RV travel, giving it an existing customer base to which it can potentially market Harvest Hosts memberships and experiences.
That points to one strategic reason hotel companies are moving into outdoor hospitality.
Large hotel groups have spent decades building loyalty programs, booking platforms, mobile apps and customer databases. Those systems do not necessarily have to be limited to conventional hotel rooms.
A traveler could stay at a Comfort Inn on one trip, use an RV on another, and choose a cabin near a national park on a third. From a hotel company’s perspective, keeping that traveler within the same commercial ecosystem creates more opportunities to generate revenue and maintain loyalty, even when the customer isn’t booking a traditional hotel.
Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt already use their loyalty programs this way by allowing members to earn or redeem points at selected outdoor accommodations. Choice now has an opportunity to develop a similar connection between Choice Privileges and Harvest Hosts.
An asset-light model familiar to hotel companies
Harvest Hosts may also appeal to Choice because its economics resemble the asset-light structures large hotel companies increasingly favor.
Rather than owning thousands of campgrounds, Harvest Hosts operates a membership network connecting RV travelers with participating host locations. Its more than 11,200 locations include businesses and attractions that make their properties available to members.
Choice specifically described the Harvest Hosts model as complementary to its broader asset-light strategy.
That means Choice can gain exposure to thousands of outdoor destinations without purchasing and operating thousands of physical properties—conceptually similar to how hotel franchisors have expanded their networks without owning most of the underlying hotel real estate.
Harvest Hosts will remain a standalone business under its existing brand following the acquisition, with Joel Holland continuing as CEO and the existing leadership team remaining in place.
Outdoor travel becomes part of the hotel competitive landscape
The emerging pattern suggests that major hotel companies increasingly see outdoor accommodations not simply as competition for hotel demand, but as another category they can incorporate into their distribution and loyalty ecosystems.
The strategies vary considerably. Marriott owns Postcard Cabins and has built an Outdoor Collection. Hilton distributes AutoCamp accommodations and connects them with Hilton Honors. Hyatt has integrated Under Canvas into World of Hyatt. Choice is acquiring an RV membership platform.
But the underlying objective is similar: broaden the range of trips travelers can take within a hotel company’s ecosystem.
That could gradually change how the industry’s largest companies define their addressable market. Instead of competing only for hotel room nights, they can compete for a larger share of a customer’s travel activity — including cabins, glamping, outdoor resorts and now RV trips.
For Choice, the $130 million Harvest Hosts acquisition represents a relatively small transaction compared with the scale of its hotel business. Strategically, however, it takes the company into a travel segment where the customer brings the room with them.