Going Beyond Glamping

with Amanda Fry of Experience Nature

What do you offer? Luxury bespoke glamping with tailor hospitality packages and soft adventure activities.

For example, our seasonal Pop-Up Hotels offer our Canoes, Cool Climate Wine & Canapes as well as forest bathing and our bush spa and our family Pop-Up at Tidbinbilla offers a series of ranger adventures which include CSI Tidbinbilla and Life as a Ranger to teach kids about Australia animals, plants and conversation.

Who is the customer? Anyone who wants to connect to nature, loves food and wine and needs us to do the heavy lifting.

Where in Australia is glamping proving to be most popular? As we are 90 mins from Sydney and Canberra our area is extremely popular for glamping, as is Byron Bay, Northern Territory and festivals. What we are seeing now is that it’s everywhere and very often the preferred option to hotels – the market has everything from African Safari tents and Luxury Pop Up Hotels like Ningaloo Reef and Cape Leveque to simple farm stay bell tents and tipis.

How have you seen the sector develop in recent years? When I first started in 2017, I was one of the few operators with a mobile glamping offer and now it’s really offering great revenue opportunities so you are seeing vineyards and farm stays offering seasonal tents, business events wanting to take their staff into new places with a mobile offer and families using this to teach their kids about Australian bush by being outside and off grid. It’s a revolution and it’s wonderful. So, we are constantly innovating to stay ahead of the global trends and push boundaries. Two years ago we used mobile igloos and now we are on to the next trend for 2022.

How are businesses bouncing back from the ongoing pandemic and what is the domestic travel demand like? Each state in Australia is different but NSW is going well as we have enough population to sustain tourism with the domestic market. It’s harder for other states if domestic borders are closed, which they have been, but the trend is certainly on recovery. If anything, this has shown Australians how amazing this county is and how much they need to see here before going abroad. I think it’s been great to remind us why we are the lucky country and such a loved destination by inbound travellers. And glamping is the absolute buzz word in accommodation right now with hotels starting to emerge to meet demand.

What are the trends you are noticing in this area of experiential stays? We need to go beyond glamping just like we did 5 years ago with Beyond the Cellar Door….up the ante and create memorable experiences around the luxury tent hire from fireside storytelling to nature walks, discovery and intellectual tourism to cooking over fire. The sky really is the limit and things like night photography and start gazing are now in high demand. We are also doing a lot more dining in our 6n tents as well.

What opportunities do you anticipate? With our weather, the glamping market is here to stay and being so big we can offer off grid easily with 90 mins of Sydney or any state capital. What we are seeing is high demand for glamping away from light pollution so it sets up globally as a wilderness destination with many facets not just one. That means it’s as infinite as the operators who can imagine experiential travel. We are known as being innovative and I am loving finding new ways to create a magical moment for our customers. About Amanda Experienced PR expert Amanda is based in the Southern Highlands and runs Experience Nature Group, which began with Wildfest - and quickly became a company specialising in glamping retreats, an annual festival and special events.

After the first year she expanded with Wild Food Adventures a day tour business. Offering more than just day trips to the region, they have crafted immersive, hand-ons and creative ways to connect with people, place and produce. Guests experience pristine wilderness, meet boutique award-winning cool climate wine makers, explore historical villages, hiking trails, taste bush foods, swim in waterfalls, cycle through vast forests, be part of the paddock to plate process, unearth truffles, learn artisan crafts, harvest hops and more.