What’s Happening in the Netherlands?

By Esmee Frederique Schut and Richard Otten

As many campsites only offer bookings during summer, Landclub Ruinen makes sure that they enable vacations every time of the year. All season glamping it is called. Safaritent, ecolodge or treelodge, it does not matter, they can all withstand any kind of weather.

2020 marked a year of turbulence, changing the Dutch glamping world immensely. It has been a challenging year for the travel industry, to say the least. This rapid change did cause remarkable trends and innovations emerged in pandemic times. Despite what you might think, travel is making its comeback, especially in the Glamping market. We bring together the most popular trends and developments within the Netherlands.

Domestic travel as a winner

When the pandemic took its first steps, the travel industry fell into a black hole. Until the 1st of June, Dutch glamping lovers were not able to cross borders anymore. Tons of booked holidays to destinations all over the world were cancelled. After this period, the Dutch government allowed travellers again to pack their suitcases. What was left, were vacation celebrations in their own country. This trend caused a dramatic increase in bookings to domestic destinations. Demand exceeded supply and prices rose like rockets. Soon there were no available destinations and Dutch campers were forced to stay at home.

Busy beaches and forests

In the summer of 2020, popular Dutch holiday destinations flooded with vacationers. The woods of the National Park the Veluwe overcrowded, the Dutch beaches stuffed. Umbrellas in all colours loomed over the beaches along the North Sea. Also, typical Dutch regions such as Friesland and Drenthe became true holiday paradises for many Dutch tourists. The Dutch rediscovered their own country we can say.

Industry’s moment to shine

Even though the virus led to a lot of reorganization and new regulations, travel providers could not ignore the upsweep and responded immediately. Large travel

companies such as Roompot, Landal, Droomparken/Europarcs, Vacanze col Cuore, and Capfun invested immensely and bought up new locations. We spoke to a real estate agent who said that he had his best year ever. He sold campsites above expectations with more than 60 campsites during the year. This way, travel organizations could still reap large profits.

Pop-up glamping on top

As many people planned to spend their holiday in their own country, entrepreneurs in the festival business and travel companies saw a major opportunity. Pop-up glamping took over the Dutch glamping market. As the festival industry is already familiar with pop-up glamping on festivals such as Rockwerchter, Lowlands and Pinkpop, but could not take place this summer, pop-up glamping showed up literally everywhere. After all, glamping is extremely popular because of its accommodations in nature with sanitary facilities. These showrooms of the newest and latest glamping accommodations became inspiration sources. Many companies concerned about glamping,

were attracted massively. Glamp Outdoor Camp on the Veluwe for example excelled with its number of visitors and will expand to even more locations in 2021 because the first year was such a success. You could say that some event organizations shifted their focus to travel.

Private sanitary facilities

The 2020 glamping season had a rough start. The government decided that it was time for a change. Campsites could open, as long as they provided guests with private sanitary facilities. Consequently, mobile homes became wildly popular. Manufactures that normally produce tents and lodges, adapted now to construct small cabins specially designed for private sanitary facilities. Thence, campsites upgraded themselves in pricing and luxury. All investments served only one particular goal: opening doors to more people. This trend will persistently continue in 2021.

Belgium & France as an escape

Some of the Dutch glamping lovers could not resist foreign beauties and packed their car to France and Belgium. Dutch-speaking owners and extensive entertainment teams became a must. Consequently, the setback of the pandemic did not damage the revenues as much as expected. Italy and Spain, normally also beloved holiday destinations for Dutch sun worshipers, became less prominent this year. The pandemic overwhelmed these countries and caused fear for many tourists.

Winter Glamping takes over

In December 2020, The Netherlands has shut down completely. Dutch travellers could not long for endless ski slopes and sleigh rides anymore. Winter holidays in popular countries such as Austria and Switzerland were prohibited, due to the lock-down. Nevertheless, travel companies came again with solutions. Winter glamping took the spotlight. Guests made long forest walks and warmed themselves in hot tubs, saunas, or campfires. Winter glamping became more popular than ever.