GLAMPING IN THE NETHERLANDS

Richard Otten

Our Netherlands Correspondent & Founder of Blogs4Travel and Glampings.NL

How has the glamping industry been affected by the pandemic where you are?

Positive for the domestic market. More people have stayed and will stay in the Netherlands. Unique small-scale destinations and outdoor glamping accommodations are getting more and more popular. Glamping is the rising segment compared to traditional camping business, hotels, etc.

Negative for other European countries, France, Italy are still very slow, but we are still confident that this market (hopefully the Schengen countries) will open up for this summer and Dutch will travel abroad again.

What kind of restrictions has the industry been under?

On campsites people need to keep 1,5M distance, communal sanitary buildings are closed, facilities such as restaurants, swimming pools, entertainment, etc. are closed. But even under these circumstances, holiday parks and glamping accommodation that have their own private bathroom were fully booked during the first holiday period in 2021 (last week was spring break holiday). Do you currently face restrictions? If so, when are they set to be lifted?

Currently lockdown with curfew from 21:00 until 04:30 (affective since 23 January).

Retail, bars, cinemas, cultural events and festivals are all forbidden and closed Daycare and primary schools are open. Middle school and universities are closed. Working from home is becoming the norm.

Hotels, campsites and holiday parcs remained open, but with all sorts of restrictions.

Uncertainty surrounding international travel has caused a surge of domestic holidays in the UK, leading to an increase in the popularity of glamping. Has this occurred where you are?

Same trend here. Normally the Dutch are very fond of travelling to France, Spain or Italy, but for the upcoming season this is still highly uncertain. Most people that have to spend their holiday during the big summer holidays (due to school holidays) have already chosen certainty above uncertainty and booked their 3 weeks in the Netherlands. The only problem is that we don’t have enough accommodations for all the Dutch, so prices are already skyrocketing for the summer and some sites are fully booked.

Are there currently any glamping trends that you are seeing?

We see that campervan holidays are getting more popular, both rental and with your own van.

Any exciting projects that you’d like to talk about?

Yes, we see a trend that's called ‘festival gamping’ or ‘pop-up glamping’ which is a sort of cross-over between traditional glamping and festivals. Accommodations that normally are based at festivals such as Lowlands and Pinkpop are now welcoming millennials for a campsite holiday. We have seen over 20 different locations already. This cross-over glamping model is of course a direct response to the pandemic, but we think that this type of holiday will stay for the future.