Interview with TV’s Kerry Roy

Interview with

TV’S KERRY ROY

Kerry Roy is the founder of the renowned Camp Kátur, which was established in Spring 2013 and has grown organically from 6 to 17 plus different types of accommodation, hosts unique woodland weddings, annual festivals and much more. In 2019, Kerry Roy opened a sister site, Cerchio Del Desiderio Glamping Retreat in the region of Abruzzo, central Italy. Having been on a number of TV programs, most recently Kerry appeared on Channel 4’s “A New Life in the Sun”, documenting her work at Cerchio Del Desiderio. International Glamping Business Publisher Steph Curtis-Raleigh caught up with Kerry to ask a few questions about the show and the future.

Did you have any idea what was going to be shown?

They were filming me from June until October last year, so there was a lot that went in there and there was a lot that wasn't shown because I had too much content. Because it was so long and I didn’t see any of the edits, I did forget a lot, so you do sometimes get concerned about what you said about your team. I've done TV before, but it's usually been generalised about the business or a festival that we've worked on, but this time it was a lot more personal, so for me the nerves were definitely kicking in to watch the first scene. How did this opportunity come about?

A friend had posted that the company were looking for people in Italy. It was their first time actually filming in Italy as they've always done France and Spain historically. I thought that it was a great opportunity because I feel like I’ve got a good story, especially with the site being the first glamping in central Italy of its kind.

What are the pitfalls of letting the cameras follow you in a reality show like this?

especially when you’re busy. Those that watched the program last week saw there were a lot of things that kept coming up, like staff not being able to work and other pressures and I really could have done with the camera not being on me at that time.

Do you think it was a fair representation of your life running a glamping site single-handedly most of the time?

Yes, it was at that time, but it wouldn't be now. Obviously, that's not a representation of how I run Camp Kátur because I’ve got a team in place that have been there many

years and they run it probably better than me now. However, the program showed the first year of me opening so it was a whole new learning process. Even now, I feel like I’m still trying to find my feet and get it to where I’ve got the right people in the right place that I can trust to do it well so that I can then be doing all the other things in the background.

Has the program led to more bookings?

Yes, it has, we’ve had a huge amount of inquiries. But very frustratingly Coronavirus is making everything uncertain. We've had some great bookings that have come through for long stays next summer, however guests have already contacted asking about cancellation. It's frustrating that I’ve had all this PR and we've had all this amazing response, but people can't actually get here.

You're going to submit a pitch to the eco hotel investment summit. Is this going to be for a new glamping project?

Yes. I've got a meeting with the place again on Friday afternoon after my pitch. This place came up around the same time as I was wondering whether to keep the current site and by that time I’d just invested in accommodation and then I discovered this place which is only half an hour away from me in the mountains. It's in the snowy area where they've got cross-country skiing, fatbiking, snow shoeing, lovely sort of nomadic type restaurants. It's an ex camping site so everything is there already. In Italy there are a lot of ex-government campsites that are just abandoned.

Spirit’s Intent are just up the road and things have changed a little bit with them at the moment because of Brexit. We've always had this discussion about putting our heads together to develop glamping more in Italy as the developers and then we'll put couples or people in place to run and manage it.

I'm trying to look for investors because I can't invest anything from this side of it, and I don't want to put this place at risk by entering into that one so it needs to be an outside investor who can be a sleeping partner, offer advice if they want to or if we need it, but mainly invest so that they can get a decent return out of it for a duration of time or annually.

It's a fantastic opportunity in a really good place and it would be the only one of its type actually in Italy in the snow. I feel like it's a lot to take on but Camp Kátur, which has 17 units plus 10 extra bell tents, is also overseas and I’ve managed that for the last three years being here. This place is just up the road and I’ve already got a team here that can cross between the two so actually it's probably not a bad thing to try.

What was your last line that you came out with on the show?

Crazy, brave or stupid. That's what I always used to say, I must be crazy to take all of this on, a lot of people say that I’m brave and I always disagree and say that I must be stupid. When you're signing away at foreign documents that you don't even understand, that's the stupid part for sure. When starting a business, you don’t always have confidence, it’s something that comes with time, so no matter what the decision, always go crazy brave or stupid.