Creating Harmony for Glamping Success

BY TODD WYNNE-PARRY

Harmony is “a pleasing arrangement of parts” according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary. In the case of a successful glamping operation, harmony is required to exist between three major components: the vision, its built form and financial viability. The interplay between these conjoined parts is not always simple or easy to navigate. The inability of each of these parts to adjust or flex can cause tension and ultimately failure of a project.

To the contrary, when each of these parts adjust to take into consideration the needs of the other a successful harmony is created. This means the built form (including its location and site) is able to deliver on the guest promise inherent in the vision and the project is economically viable.

The burgeoning glamping or experiential outdoor accommodation sector of the hospitality industry has one intrinsic attribute that makes it completely unique to other sectors. That attribute is the common altruistic mission to create or facilitate opportunities for people to interact with nature. This was a powerful demand motivator for travelers leading up to the pandemic, but now has intensified globally. We are already witnessing the sector’s evolution from a small collection of early market entrants to institutional investors and brands launching their efforts to scale. This is not a new phenomenon. The early days of the independent boutique and lifestyle sector of the industry looked very similar. That sector had notable early entrants such as Chip Conley with the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco and Ian Schrager with Morgan’s in NYC. It then accelerated exponentially when Barry Sternlich of Starwood created and globally scaled the W Hotel brand and others quickly followed. That evolution started in the early 80s and by the early 2000s the sector was seeing investment from all the major hotel companies and institutional investors. With early adopter hospitality investors such as KSL (Under Canvas), Whitman Peterson (AutoCamp) and Barry Sternlich (Getaway) and the sector’s unique nature forward mission, my prediction is the glamping sector’s progression will be significantly faster.

The point of making the above comparison is to highlight the importance of the visionaries in the glamping sector and how these people will create and curate the future body of brands and concepts. The sector has already attracted its share of truly inspiring and authentic visionary entrepreneurs globally. In the US market, stand out early entrants include Peter Mack of Collective Retreats, Neil Dipaola of AutoCamp and Sarah and Jacob Dusek of Under Canvas. Each of these entrepreneurs established brands that provided proof of concept, attracted institutional investors and are now well on their way to scaling nationally. Then there are up and coming stars such as Bobby Frisch of Firelight Camps, Natalie Binder of Camp V and John Flannigan of Wylder Hotels. These players too have proof of concept and will be scaling in the near future. All of these visionaries have had to adjust, flex and evolve their vision in order to become successful.

A major area of adjustment has been around the built form. In particular, early entrants have modified the accommodation type and unit numbers. These changes have included moving from exclusively using one type of structure to a mix of structures. For example, instead of only offering canvas tents operators are now tending to adding vintage trailers, treehouses, park models or tiny cabins. With the primary aim of most glamping or experiential outdoor accommodation being to get folks out into nature, the type of accommodation unit is important, but not the only way to achieve that goal. Providing ensuite bathrooms to tents has also become a common consideration, even before the pandemic lifted guest hygiene concerns. In addition, the unit numbers have generally grown. While a glamping concept may work at 20-30 units with a low cost of entry (e.g. a lease or inexpensive land with existing entitlements and utilities) or extremely high room rates, having 80-100 units can allow for an enhanced overall quality of the guest experience and drive a significantly more consistent and higher level of return on investment.

Another area of adjustment has been in the provision of food and beverage provided on property. While the vision may be one of guests roughing it and cooking over their own open fire with only BBQ kits and smores purchased in the gift shop, the reality may demand more. This is particularly true with larger properties that have guests that expect a higher level of service for the room rate paid or a need for small corporate events to carry the operation through low season mid-weeks. This has adjusted the built form to include F&B facilities and services that were not part of the original vision or became required as the size of properties or the market mix expanded. True visionaries usually take a very personal and hands on approach to coming up with detailed solutions in regard to adjustments to the built form. These are problem solving challenges that can provide a great level of entrepreneurial satisfaction. Furthermore, the adjustments discussed above are relatively easy compromises for a visionary as it helps enhance the guest experience while increasing opportunities for revenue generation.

The more difficult adjustments to the built form are those that focus on reducing development or operational costs to achieve or enhance the project’s economic viability. Considerations around reducing the cost of delivery on the promise is where conflict between the visionary and the investment stakeholders can appear. The more institutional in nature the capital source, the less flex the investor side tends to allow. Therefore, another key to success is the selection of a compatible capital source. That is, if your concept or product type will inevitably be evolving, then a more lenient or malleable investor will advisable. Conversely, if your concept and its built form is generally static, then a more traditional institutional investor could be appropriate.

Creating great harmony between the visionary, the built form and the project’s financial viability is not the only key success factor in a glamping project. A multitude of other issues can negatively or positively effect a development. However, without the ability of these stakeholders to sit down and hash out win-win solutions, success will be challenging at the very least. Luckily for all of us working in this nascent sector of the hospitality industry, regardless of the outcome of such negotiations, the setting should be somewhere in nature around a crackling campfire.

The founder and CEO of Montare Hospitality Advisors (an M&A and advisory group dedicated to the Glamping and boutique lodging sectors), Todd has more than 30 years of hotel development and acquisitions experience, having held senior leadership positions at several major hotel brands and most recently as Chief Growth Officer at AutoCamp. A dual-citizen of Australia and the United States, Wynne-Parry has lived and worked in the U.S., Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. He was instrumental in the development efforts for IHG, Starwood and Marriott in the Asia Pacific region and for Commune and Two Roads Hospitality globally. Todd earned an MBA from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management and his BA from Alma College. He is the treasurer of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Development Trust for Scotland’s University of Aberdeen and is an advisor to the American Glamping Association. As a devout outdoorsman and fly fisherman, he resides on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon, but prefers the open road towing his vintage Airstream Flying Cloud.