Letter from Ruben Martinez - AGA co-Founder

Letter from AGA founder:

THE FUTURE OF THE GLAMPING INDUSTRY

BY RUBEN MARTINEZ

When the pandemic began and shook the travel industry, there were several predictions that caused excitement for the future of the glamping industry even as the first several weeks of the pandemic ripped through the global economy. As the stay at home orders grew and it became obvious that we would not see the end of this for a while, a lot of knowns surfaced right alongside countless unknowns.

One of those clear knowns was that glamping proved to be the perfect travel outlet for the state of the world and checked all of the boxes for travellers who were faced with a new set of challenges. We know that people are not ready to be crammed into cruise ships but are ready to have remote experiences in safari tents near national parks. They are still weary of traveling by air but are flocking in record numbers to destinations that provide fresh air such as driving to a yurt two hours from their home. We know that after being quarantined for significant periods of time, travelers are not ready for their first meaningful trip to be eerily similar to the past several months of their lives and are choosing treehouses and tipis over hotel rooms. They are choosing glamping in record numbers that myself and this industry have never seen before. There has been, and continues to be, a rush to outdoor hospitality focused on hyper local destinations. This past season our member operators quickly experienced 100% capacity and even after raising their rates which set them on a new trajectory that was impossible to precisely predict.

It will take time, but traditional hospitality will bounce back at some point. But we have witnessed a global embrace of glamping and the realization that glamping has become the gateway to the outdoors for a large set of displaced travelers looking to experience outdoor lodging for the first time.

We have also learned that this has become the perfect time for new operators to enter the market and existing operators to expand as the demand has far exceeded the supply in the space. A natural and swift development surge unlike anything we have ever seen has emerged. Capital providers have turned their heads toward this bright light in the travel space and it has forever made believers among investors drawn in by the immense opportunity. Substantial investment in the space has arrived and we will continue to see clear examples of its appetite on a daily basis.

What is clear from the daily data that we study is that travel isn’t changing, it has already changed. The pandemic did not create this shift but rather accelerated a trend that had already been picking up incredible momentum over the past several years in the United States and globally. We are extremely proud of the work our members have put in this past year. They have taken on projects and unique concepts at unprecedented levels and continue to push boundaries and challenge the status quo in the outdoor travel space. When people ask about the future of the industry it is hard to communicate my excitement and sheer optimism. But what I can say is that it has been our privilege to serve the glamping community which I firmly believe is barely scratching the surface and has unlimited potential.

“It will take time, but traditional hospitality will bounce back at some point. But we have witnessed a global embrace of glamping and the realization that glamping has become the gateway to the outdoors for a large set of displaced travelers looking to experience outdoor lodging for the first time.”