Open Air Business August/September 2017

GLAMPSITES
AFTER
Realising
the Vision
Edward Busby shares his approach to
creating a glampsite from the bare earth up
WHEN IN THE early fledgling
stage of setting up a glamping site
on your land it is a good idea to
take a step-by-step, methodical
approach. Sometimes it can feel a
little overwhelming starting out on
projects, so if you can break it down
into a six point process you will
have somewhere to start and, most
importantly, somewhere to finish.
However, don’t get bogged down;
a new venture is exciting and fun,
and so is the business.
If I were to list that process, it
would be in this order:
› Appraising a piece of land
› Establishing a philosophy and
design
› The planning and funding
process
› Landscaping, earthworks and
services
› The build/commission of
“ONCE YOU
HAVE GONE
THROUGH
THIS PROCESS
AND PICKED
YOUR IDEAL
STRUCTURE,
WHATEVER IT
MAY BE, YOU
CAN THEN
COMMISSION
DESIGNS AND
GET THE BALL
ROLLING”
accommodation
› Use of media and marketing
1APPRAISING A
PIECE OF LAND
When you are appraising a piece
of land the first step is to identify
its best features, or unique selling
points. What does it have? Beautiful
views, water, veteran trees, grazing
livestock and so on. If you can
locate a point that can encompass
all of these elements, you may have
found your ideal spot. If you have
more than one site in mind then
create a list of the pros and cons,
then you can analyse each site
and make a decision. You can then
establish an access route and if it is
feasible for a build or not. Try and
picture your guests’ arrival at this
stage; is it too far to walk? Is it safe
and practical?
2
ESTABLISHING A
PHILOSOPHY AND
DESIGN
Next, you can begin to visualise
how you can create the
environment and experience
you want to deliver. What sort of
structure will work on this site and
what had you envisioned creating?
The founding themes of glamping
are back to nature, the great
outdoors and luxury camping. How
are you going to truly integrate
your site or structure within its
setting and the great outdoors?
In order to do this, you need to
have a clear picture in your head
of who your target market is and
what the customers are buying
into when they book a stay. What
type of structures suit this type of
customer? How many people will
you be accommodating in it?
Once you have gone through
this process and picked your ideal
structure, whatever it may be, you
can then commission designs and
get the ball rolling. At this stage
make sure your structure suits its
purpose. If you intend to run this
site up to 12 months a year then be
sure it is capable of doing so. For
instance, when intending to run a
site all year round then you may
rule out canvas dwellings and so
on.
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