Open Air Business February 2017
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping businesses and outdoor event organisers
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glamping businesses and outdoor event organisers
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ACCOMMODATION<br />
Family Glamping<br />
Target the family market with Kate Morel’s secret recipe for success<br />
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LANTERN & LARKS<br />
A GLAMPING STAY has become a favoured<br />
break for mums, dads and the children.<br />
Family glampsites enjoy good occupancy<br />
rates, and not just at weekends. Week<br />
or fortnight-long bookings are the norm<br />
during school holidays. Given the growing<br />
demand for nature-related leisure activities<br />
and staycations, it’s not surprising that<br />
more families are turning to glamping and<br />
back-to-nature holidays. It’s good news all<br />
round: good for rural businesses; good for<br />
family relationships; good for children and<br />
let’s hope it’s good for the land too. If future<br />
generations can engage more with nature<br />
and learn to respect it, hopefully they also<br />
will want to preserve it.<br />
In response to this demand, the number<br />
of family glampsites and franchises offering<br />
a variety of accommodations and holiday<br />
experiences has increased over the last<br />
few years. Family glamping now includes<br />
the original, independent glamping sites,<br />
as well as regular campsites that have<br />
diversified, plus franchises and large resort<br />
developments that have added unusual<br />
accommodation. It will soon also include<br />
specifically designed and built glamping<br />
resorts.<br />
FAMILY PLANNING<br />
As always, it’s quite difficult to cover every<br />
type of glamping site in these pieces,<br />
but I’ll at least cover the basics. A family<br />
glamping holiday which creates memorable<br />
experiences and makes guests want to<br />
return doesn’t usually happen by accident.<br />
Depending on the level of experience on<br />
offer, it can require a lot of thought around<br />
what we want to provide and how to create<br />
it.<br />
If the proposed site doesn’t have obvious<br />
natural features to work with, it’s time to<br />
get creative, or maybe even simply take a<br />
fresh look at what’s right under our nose. For<br />
example, the farm-stay glamping holiday is<br />
particularly popular with families because<br />
it brings them into contact with a lifestyle<br />
they wouldn’t normally get to experience.<br />
Not only do they stay on the land of a<br />
working farm, but are sometimes shown<br />
around by hospitable hosts who are keen<br />
and happy to share their passions. They can<br />
also participate a little - children can feed<br />
the animals, or take care of their own little<br />
chicken ark and collect the eggs – and they<br />
absolutely love it! If, like me, you grew up<br />
amidst all this, you might not initially grasp<br />
the attraction. I, for one, used to find letting<br />
hens out and shooing the little darlings back<br />
to roost at night a bit of a chore. However, if it<br />
was a new experience and I only had to do it<br />
for a week, it would be quite a novelty.<br />
Herein lies attractive USP potential,<br />
what else might we be taking for granted<br />
that would make a fun, unusual holiday for<br />
families needing a break from ‘life’?<br />
Some customers are now starting to look<br />
for more than unusual structures to sleep<br />
in, they want entertainment and activities,<br />
especially during longer stays. In countries<br />
where the weather can be unpredictable,<br />
36 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM
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