MILFORD, Ohio, Jan. 12, 2017 — Leisure Systems, Inc.’s growing sales and profitability landed the Jellystone Park franchisor a spot in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500^® listing.

With $106 million in sales in 2016, Leisure Systems was ranked 472 for its exceptional performance across several areas, including financial strength and stability, growth rate and brand power.

“Our inclusion in the Franchise 500^® not only reflects the growing financial strength of the Jellystone Park franchise system, but rising consumer and investor awareness of Jellystone Parks as the family camping venue of choice across North America,” said Jim Westover, Leisure Systems’ vice president of operations.

The Milford, Ohio-based company franchises over 80 Jellystone Park campgrounds with more than 17,000 campsites and vacation rentals across the U.S. and Canada and plans to expand to more than 100 parks in the next five years.

“Our inclusion in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500^® is a powerful testament to the strength of the Jellystone Park brand as well as our franchisees’ ability to execute our business model at a high level,” Westover said.

Entrepreneur considers several factors in developing its Franchise 500^® listing, including franchise costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, as well as financial strength and stability. All franchises are given a cumulative score based on more than 150 data points, and the 500 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the Franchise 500^® in ranking order.

“We spend months gathering and crunching data in order to produce the Franchise 500^® ranking. We’re proud of the result and the way it continues to be a resource for the franchise community,” said Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. “Like every industry, franchising is ever-evolving and must smartly react to new technologies and consumer demands. We know it takes a lot to stay competitive, and are excited to celebrate those that do it best.”

This year’s Franchise 500^® also takes into account the growing role of technology. “We’ve developed new ways to measure and analyze our collected data as new critical data points come into play,” said Ryan Shea, president of Entrepreneur. “We take into account pertinent factors such as social media presence and financing availability, which have become increasingly important in today’s economy. The result is a more complete and relevant Franchise 500^® that can serve as a valuable resource for our readers.”

Leisure Systems is making significant investments in social media outreach and new technology. In addition to having 2 million annual visits on CampJellystone.com and nearly 1 million social media followers across the franchise, the company encourages its locations to utilize the franchise-sponsored text and video message program to alert guests to everything from bear sitings to special promotions on selected food, beverage and gift store items. Jellystone Park franchises achieved double digit increases in ancillary sales last year by using targeted text and video messages.

Jellystone Parks are famous for providing fun, family activities and themed weekends that include everything from crafts and games to wagon rides. Birthday parties with the bears and daily appearances by Yogi Bear are also very popular.

Themed weekend activities, such as Luau weekends, often include limbo contests and sand castle building. Mardi Gras themed weekends include parades, cookouts and dances, while Christmas in July weekends include campsite decorating contests, campsite caroling, cookie and ornament making activities. The increasingly popular Halloween themed weekends include costume and campsite decorating contests and trick or treating activities.

Growing numbers of Jellystone Parks also provide extensive water play parks with lengthy water slides and interactive water features as well as high quality food service items, such as Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and Hunt Bros Pizza.

Leisure Systems will conduct its next training session for new and existing franchisees from Jan. 23 – 27 at the Embassy Suites in Covington, Ky. Topics will include business planning; guest care; recreational program management; costume care and usage; camp store merchandising; and pricing strategies.

To view Leisure Systems in the full ranking of the Franchise 500, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500. Results can also be seen in the January/February issue of Entrepreneur, which is available now on newsstands.

For more information about Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts across the U.S. and Canada, visit www.CampJellystone.com and www.jellystonefranchise.com.