The glamping holiday – a very British affair
Shepherds huts, tee pees, wood lodges, yurts and even treehouses are dotted across the English countryside as glamping continues to grow in popularity. In fact, these ‘alternative’ glamping holiday accommodation units are becoming as institutional as afternoon cream teas, strawberries and tennis, and black taxis.
Holidaymakers are flocking to the great outdoors with the promise of being at one with nature whilst also banking a good night’s sleep.
As long ago as 2010, Sawdays, one of the first and leading directories of handpicked and inspected special places to stay, saw the potential in this type of holidaying. They created their own spin-off website canopyandstars.co.uk, a collection of inspected and selected, quirky places for glamping. From there glamping has really taken off. Today, many sites including TripAdvisor and Air B&B offer glamping opportunities for holidaymakers happy to brave the uncertainty of the British summertime weather.
So, what is driving this desire to glamp?
Could it be the B word?
Yes, I mean Brexit. The uncertainty around whether we’re in or out. Brits don’t know whether to expect vast re-entry queues at the end of a summer holiday or whether we’ll continue the in-or-out debate for the months ahead. It could be that the uncertainty around Brexit and whether we have a blue passport, or a burgundy passport could be making Brits more reluctant to book an overseas trip.
Maybe it’s a money thing?
Of course, part and parcel of this is the poor performance of the pound at the moment. With such low exchange rates, the appeal of travelling overseas that drove everyone to hop off to the continent in the ‘90s, now isn’t so strong.
Or an escape from digitalisation?
Or perhaps it’s a rebellion from living our lives in the fast lane. The rate at which we live, breathe, drive, in fact, do everything, has sped up. Increasingly frequently we crave getting back to nature. Digital detoxes have become a real ‘thing’ recently, but not everyone wants complete isolation from the digital world. For some, just being back under the starry sky, shrouded beneath a green canopy or even just breathing fresh air is enough to enable us to find the pause button and make us feel grounded once again.
Whatever the reason, the glamping phase is here to stay so, with the continued growth in popularity of glamping, maybe there’s an opportunity to extend your business to include glamping and give your visitors a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life?
We understand the hospitality business through and through and are long-established specialists in securing hospitality finance. We can offer you friendly and informative advice to help you build your glamping business.
Browse our site for case histories and more information about the process involved in securing hospitality finance or call us now to speak to our team of experts.
