You don’t have to be big to offer glamping!

BY MIKE GAST

Alittle more than a decade ago, “glamping” was a word that seldom surfaced in everyday conversation. When it did, it usually referred to some odd, out-of-this-world luxury tenting experience with butlers and private chefs. It was only available at a handful of top-end resorts and was only within the reach of the richand-famous “glamper.”

Oh, how the world has changed.

Even prior to the pandemic year of 2020, glamping had entered the average/ordinary person’s lexicon. New glamping resorts began popping up all over the world, offering a wide array of price points and bringing a new market to the outdoors. It was a market that didn’t have a regular relationship with nature, but certainly wanted one - on its own terms.

These glamping-only resorts came with luxury camping amenities at many price points. They all catered exclusively to those who wanted to drive up to their accommodation with a light suitcase and the clothes on their backs. At these resorts, there wasn’t a recreational vehicle or groundsleeping tenter in sight.

Then, about five years ago, something changed. Smaller existing businesses decided to get in on the action. Working farms and wineries in desirable locations, for example, found that they could create a decent revenue stream by strategically placing a safari tent or two with some nice interior features. Adding glamping to a business or adding a glamping site or two to your own land was suddenly a great way to generate immediate income.

Commercial campgrounds also saw the opportunity. After all, campground owners know how to take care of campers, and they already have the land. Adding a few high-end cabins with bathrooms, big safari tents, yurts or even Conestoga wagons became an easy way to get their share of the growing glamping consumer market.

There are a plethora of tent and other, unique accommodation vendors to research when you decide you want to provide glamping. Just look through the pages of this magazine, and you’ll see a dizzying array of choices. I asked officials with two companies on different ends of the price-point spectrum their thoughts on getting started in the glamping industry.

Robyn Smith is the Vice President of Sales and Business Development for CanvasCamp, a worldwide provider of large canvas tent structures. She says 80% of her business used to involve selling directly to individuals for private use, with only 20% sold to a business wanting to expand into glamping. That’s rapidly changing.

“Our business-to-business sales in the past were mostly commercial customers buying a large number of tents for a specific glamping property,” she said. “Now, more people than we could ever anticipated are buying one or two tents for their private land, their farm or other small business. Everyone is getting into glamping. They are starting small and growing fast.”

Smaller operators are using online booking services like Hipcamp to reach glampers. The rapid growth in the number of small operators led Smith and CanvasCamp to sell 6,000 units in the U.S. alone last year, during the pandemic. “Right now, my biggest issue is inventory,” she said. “We can’t make our tents fast enough.”

CanvasCamp’s “Sibley” tents, which can be set up by one person in about 10 minutes, start at about $1,000 per unit. Budget another $1,000 for furniture shopping and $500 for other incidentals, and you can be in business fast for just $2,500 per unit. Smith said if you can create a glamping experience worth $150 a night, you can recoup your entire startup cost with just 20 rented nights.

If you’re looking at getting into glamping, your supplier options are growing. I counted more than 25 U.S. suppliers of glamping tents, yurts and teepees in the GlampingHub.com online manufacturing catalog alone, with a variety of price points.

Adding glamping to a winery or working farm operation can be seamless. Glampers come for a specific experience that is already occurring at the business. Plus, they are often the only overnight guests, and have the place pretty much to themselves.

It’s a bit different when adding glamping to a commercial campground operation. North America’s two largest camping companies - Kampgrounds of America Inc. (with 525 locations) and Leisure Systems (77 locations), have both offered deluxe cabin, safari tent and other unique glamping offerings at most locations for years. The difference is that they mix the new glamping market with traditional campers and RVers.

Josh Bell and his family are in a unique position when it comes to glamping. They own and operate seven KOA campgrounds in the U.S., and also are the North American dealers for Eco Structures, a high-end safari tent product manufactured in Australia.

“We get a lot of inquiries from folks looking to just buy one or two units,” Bell said. “Our traditional market has been for resorts that are making larger orders, but we are certainly looking to move to having stock available in the United States to handle those small orders in our most common sizes.”

Bell said a 14-foot by 14-foot tent from Eco Structures with an included floor and 6-foot front deck will set you back $16,500. But these things are really built to last, with a galvanized steel structure and canvas that will last at least 10 years. They are rated for winds in excess of 80 mph. The integrated platform floor included in the package saves buyers from having to figure that out for themselves. The deck, canvas, roof and floor are all part of the kit.

While Eco Structure’s cost per unit can far exceed other options, they are a hit with glampers. At the Bell’s San Diego Metro KOA Resort in Chula Vista, California, the four Eco Structures units paid for themselves in the first year of operation.

“Traditional campgrounds have a wonderful long-term customer base of recreational vehicle owners and traditional tenters,” Bell said. “Adding a glamping option to a park allows you to attract new guests looking for a safe outdoor experience who don’t want to bring their own gear.”

Bell said the family’s campgrounds have offered Deluxe Cabins with full baths and kitchens for several years, but they are finding the Eco Structures tents actually generate a better occupancy rate than traditional cabins.

“A traditional campground that also offers glamping can be successful if they do a good job of managing the expectations of their glampers,” he said. “We make sure that they know that they aren’t going to be out in the middle of nowhere by themselves. We also tell them all about the cool amenities that come with staying on a campground.”

What will tip the scales for owners of existing outdoor accommodations is the money to be made. It’s pretty simple math to calculate the increase in income when you replace three rustic tent sites that generate $40 a night with three glamping tents that can bring you $150 a pop. The market is there, and it’s growing.

Both Bell and Smith said that, as suppliers, they encourage their buyers to consider more than just a single glamping unit.

“My gut feeling is that it will take more than just one or even two glamping tents to be really successful,” Bell said. “if you’ve got the space, add more, no matter what sort of tent or unique offering it is.”

“The barriers for entry into the glamping business are very low,” Smith said. “I see the little guys get into it with a tent or two, and immediately grow when they find out they can get $400 for a single weekend.”

We are still experiencing a perfect storm of extremely high consumer demand and relatively low cost and fast payback to get things started in glamping. That trend will certainly continue in 2021, but there’s nothing as good as being on the leading edge of a trend.

Whether you have an existing small business with land available, a campground looking for a new market, or are just an individual with spare space in a desirable location, 2021 might be your year to become a glamping entrepreneur.

Mike Gast was the Vice President of Communications for Kampgrounds of America, Inc. for the past 20 years. Now, he’s on to new adventures, helping others tell their stories through his freelance company, ‘Imi Ola Group. You can reach Mike at mike.imiolagroup@gmail.com.

More info: Eco Structures: www.ecostructures.com.au

CanvasCamp: www.canvascamp.com/en_us

Conestoga Wagon Co: www.conestogawagonco.com