Open Air Business February 2017

ACCOMMODATION
Old family recipe…
A great family glamping offer has a few key ingredients.
I’d add a covered area or play barn
with games and activities to keep
children occupied when some or all
of the usual outdoor activities are
less appealing. Families often make
friends on holiday and team up, so a
communal space or cover provides
a great opportunity for evening
socialising. All these cater perfectly
to a family’s holiday needs and add
to the guests’ experience.
You may have noticed that I use
the word ‘experience’ quite often,
both in my seminars and in my
writing. I even gave a talk dedicated
to ‘The Guest Experience’ at The
Glamping Show and the Farm
Business Innovation Show two years
ago. I might sound like a broken
record by now (and I’m OK with that,
because vinyl is making a comeback
don’t you know?), but I am not
alone any more. Even the hotel
industry has started to recognise
that it needs to up its game in terms
of creating a better ‘experience’ - I
wonder if glamping is exerting a
wider influence than any of us give it
credit for?
2 ACTIVITIES
Even though some families want a simple
back-to-nature holiday with streams,
woodlands and old-fashioned play areas,
activity-based holidays are a growth area
and can be an effective USP. Depending
on the site’s features, it could host
activities such as a zip line, mountain
bike track, canoeing, archery, foraging
and bush-crafts. Or team up with local
activity companies and cross-market
your businesses. Choosing a theme and
then building the activities around it gives
your glamping a unique focus.
1APPROPRIATE
ACCOMMODATION
AND FACILITIES
The accommodation structure depends
on the level of glamping you want to
offer, and there is plenty to choose
from right now, from a bell tent
to a luxury treehouse. A current
popular choice for families is the
safari tent: they’re spacious,
have separate bedrooms and
usually include integral cooking
and bathroom facilities. Other
family favourites are yurts, bell
tents and pods. The smaller
structures are a good option
for compact land areas - apart
from being bigger, safari tents
tend to be more spaced out too.
Some structures now have integral
kitchenettes and bathrooms but, for
those that don’t, facilities shouldn’t
be too far away – and make sure there
are enough of them if shared. It’s worth
noting that in the mid to high price
glamping market, more guests are
starting to prefer private facilities.
NOTE: An eight-berth bell tent can
generate similar rental fees to a sixberth
safari tent (with similar occupancy
rates) so ROIs vary enormously; in fact,
depending on individual set up costs,
ROIs can vary even on the same structure.
Gather impartial advice and information,
and create a thorough business plan,
keeping personal preferences in check: it
might appeal to your taste, but will it be
profitable?
3 HOSPITALITY
Naturally this is important to all holiday
accommodations, but especially so to
family glampsites. How guests are interacted
with from the moment they get in touch to
the day they drive away is a big part of the
package. A genuine connection with guests
and a concern for their experience is what can
distinguish a lot of glamping holidays from
any other sort of holidays. Also, families can be
demanding - much more so than a couple who
just want a weekend away from everyone. I
hope that glamping will always be able deliver
this no matter how big the development
because, for me, it’s one aspect that sets it
apart from any other type of holiday.
4 SAFETY
A big part of a glamping holiday’s
appeal is its natural location and all
the wonderful wild features that go with it.
However, parents will also want to feel that
their children are going to be safe. In effect,
we are creating a place that retains its sense
of freedom and excitement but still has all
the necessary safety precautions. I am often
asked about deep water features, ‘no go’
areas on farms, and, very often, the use of
fire and candles. While answers can vary on
occasion, I always refer to current legislative
requirements. It’s too big a subject to go into
here but a few minutes of ‘Googling’ will
give you a good grounding. Also, an in-depth
discussion with an insurance company that
knows and understands the glamping
industry will highlight matters which
would increase your risks and
therefore insurance fees. Glamping
accommodation currently falls
within existing self-catering
holiday let and camping
legislation, but I do wonder if
it will be singled out at some
point. In the meantime, I feel
it’s important for the industry
to set our own standards and
for those standards to be as high
as possible. ›
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