Glamping, a portmanteau of the words ‘glamorous’ and ‘camping,’ is a trend that has gained traction in recent years thanks to the boom of social media. With it, people can enjoy the beauty of the outdoors without sacrificing the luxurious comforts of home.
It’s said that the number of glampers keeps growing by the year resulting in a higher demand for glamping sites. Setting up a glamping site in your area could be a fantastic way to increase tourist activities and provide a new place for glampers to stay on holiday.
But like any business, there are a couple of steps you need to follow first to ensure a successful venture.
How to Set Up a Glamping Site
If you’d like to create a glamping venue for potential vacationers, check out this guide that can help you:
Consider Your Location
A good location should be your priority. If you already own enough land, you’ll need to examine if it’s a prime area for a glamping site. A flat surface is preferable for setting up tents, like luxury yurts for glamping. If there are many trees around, ensure a substantial distance between them and the tents.
Consider the overall look and feel of your location. Most people go glamping to unwind and take photos worthy of posting on their social media accounts.
An excellent example is a place with a scenic view, like a mountain range or the beach. Some glampers may want to explore the site and find more attractions. Thus, it’s better to have a place near local landmarks but quiet enough for visitors who prefer privacy.
Another critical point you should remember is the accessibility of your glamping site. No matter how beautiful the location is, it’ll be all for nothing if no one else can go there. Aside from choosing a pretty spot, you have to ensure that tourists can easily travel there via a private car or public transport.
Check the Competition
Established glamping businesses rose to popularity because of good reviews and excellent services. If you’d like people to return to your glamping site or recommend it to their friends and family, check what other sites offer their visitors. Most of the time, the extra amenities attract potential glampers.
Review trends and observe what your location’s best points are. Millennials, especially, go to sites with eye-catching views and outdoor activities you usually can’t do in the city.
So, take notes from existing glamping venues and make them your inspiration. Studying the competition will also give you an idea of how much to charge tourists per night at your glamping site.
Plan Your Offers and Amenities
After checking the competition, you can decide what elements can make your glamping site stand out.
You may apply personal hobbies as entertainment, like painting or Pilates, or allow visitors to camp with their furry friends. Set up a little playground for children too. The younger ones are less likely to get bored quickly if they can play around and have activities to do while at camp.
Many people prefer glamping over traditional camping because of the home comforts of the former. Most modern tents, yurts, and cabins offer amenities like a bath, toilet, and mini kitchen. Some accommodations may also have divided rooms and provide electricity, which means people can use the air-conditioning during the summer.
Glamping sites don’t necessarily have to be 100% off the grid. You can still offer tourists Wi-Fi while they escape the city for a few days. Glampers can immediately post photos of your lovely site while still staying there with an Internet connection.
Get Planning Permission from the Authorities
Even if the site is on land you own, you may require permission from local authorities to set up glamping tents there. Fortunately, since glamping tents are semi-permanent, the paperwork needed here is less than what’s needed to build permanent structures.
It’s important to get planning permission before you get a license. Criteria and requirements may vary from state to state and country to country. So, ask your local government or council for the requirements you need to adhere to in setting up a glamping site.
When you’re at this stage, it’s better to have a semblance of a plan than nothing at all. It will make conversations with the council and planning with architects and designers more straightforward.
The council will consider a few factors before granting you permission and a license. These factors may include:
- The location;
- Neighboring properties; and
- Other plans for local and neighborhood development.
They may reject your plan because of these reasons. But you could still look for another location or adjust your plans slightly until everyone agrees.
Decorate and Furnish
Once you’ve received the go-signal to set up the site and prepare the area, you can put the luxury tents or yurts ready for your visitors. But there’s still lots of planning involved, so don’t relax yet.
Glamping is like being at home yet away from home. People expect to see comfortable semi-permanent accommodation and not shabby and wrinkly tents. Before inviting people to the site, make sure each tent is decorated and fully furnished.
Depending on a specific theme or design style, you can decorate them as elegant, minimalist, boho, or rustic. Looking and shopping for furniture and decorative pieces will be easier with a style choice in mind.
Make a list of what every tent should have. As mentioned above, most luxury tents have some amenities similar to homes, including electricity and clean running water, for maximum comfort. Aside from a few appliances, you could also include the following:
- Chairs, cushions, and tables;
- Linens, pillows, and blankets;
- Doormats and rugs;
- Towels, toilet paper, and bath products;
- Utensils, plates, mugs, and dish soap; and
- Lamps, candles, and flashlights with spare batteries.
These are the bare minimum for a luxury glamping tent. Depending on your budget, you can add more or allow glampers to bring their own necessities. They’re more than likely to bring them anyway.
Advertise Your Glamping Site
When the tents are ready for occupancy, it’s time to market the glamping site to your target audience.
Since people worldwide now know the feeling of being stuck at home, marketing an opportunity to go outdoors will be less complicated. Many groups and individuals crave a taste of unpolluted air and gorgeous natural views without letting go of home comforts.
Advertise your glamping site’s strong points, location, and perks you’ll offer visitors. The more family-friendly it is, the better. Kiddos will like doing glamping, as well as their parents, when they know they’re safe and can have fun even away from the city.
Use social media and post photos of the attractions to entice tourists to see them for themselves. Don’t hesitate to ask for help from professionals, from digital marketing specialists to photographers, to ensure your glamping site gets all the good buzz it deserves.
Final Thoughts
Setting up a glamping site is a wonderful method to attract tourists to a quiet yet beautiful location.
Many people are looking for a place to rest and relax while outdoors, and glamping is the best way to do that. It takes several steps and planning to accommodate glampers and make them comfortable, but it’ll be worth seeing them happy and enjoying.