7 minute read
Beyond Glamping: Outdoor Hospitality's Big Tent
Glamping as we know is a key part of the outdoor hospitality sector of the lodging industry. As outdoor hospitality continues to grow, a wide variety of sub-sectors have evolved. While glamping gets wide media attention as the “it” new way to travel, there are adjacent sub-sectors that camp in outdoor hospitality’s big tent.
Each of these sub-sectors typically target nature-based destinations such as national or state parks, wilderness recreation areas, mountain, beach, or wine growing areas. The target market segments tend to be free independent travelers (‘FITs”), such as individuals, couples and families, and small- to medium-sized corporate or social groups keen to experience the outdoors. Demand for outdoor hospitality continues to be driven by the demographic and psychographic shift of travelers preferring outdoor or nature-based activities for their leisure time along with technological advances creating remote working options, effective social media promotion and a sharing economy to aid in supply growth.
These trends show no sign of reversing and bode well for the future of outdoor hospitality. Currently, four distinct sub-sectors have emerged to begin the formation of the movement’s lexicon. These business lines include the ultraluxury, glamping, outdoor motels, and hybrid RV parks sub-sectors. The following provides a cursory and by no means comprehensive breakdown of the outdoor hospitality sub-sectors.
ULTRA-LUXURY
At the ultra-luxury end of the spectrum is where we see the entry of globally recognized brands. For decades luxury resorts have been using “experiential hospitality” as a buzzword for concierge curated activities to lure guests, while still using traditional hotel rooms. However, recently these brands have begun leaning into outdoor hospitality with their rooms product. Auberge, for instance, with their Wildflower Farms provide detached units in a campground layout and all the traditional resort style amenities. Others like Amangiri’s Camp Sarika and the Four Seasons’ Naviva have added detached units adjacent to the existing resort’s core and market this as a separate outdoor hospitality product.
The growth of this latter concept is driven by property owners (note: the brand name on these types of properties is rarely the property owner) excitement about the concept of tacking on additional rooms that achieve a higher room rate without the expense of additional support facilities. Ultra-luxury glamping properties both independent and branded will continue to emerge but at a slow pace comparatively.
GLAMPING
The most exciting and high-profile of these sub-sectors is clearly glamping. Interestingly, as a relatively burgeoning business and very few national brands, it already enjoys a widespread aspirational guest perception. Glamping has seen thousands of new entrants to the business from individuals with humble means investing in a few accommodation units up to traditional lodging industry players investing hundreds of millions into scaling branded operators to fund aggressive development pipelines. Here is where the meiosis occurs creating two categories of glamping: independent lifestyle operators (‘ILOs”) and branded operators.
ILOs generally maintain less than 20 units and use OTA (online travel agents) platforms such as AirBnB, Hipcamp or The Dyrt to generate business. The individual, couple or partners that develop these small glamping operations really take on a new lifestyle. The new hospitality venture can be entirely different than the founder’s original profession or career, yet it puts them in more control of their time and closer to nature daily.
There are also some larger successful ILOs such as Irene Wood’s “Fields of Michigan”, Robert Frisch’s “Firelight Camp” and Blake Smith’s “Walden Retreat” that are both a lifestyle and a significant small business. In some instances, most notably Sarah Dusek’s “Under Canvas” brand, ILOs have evolved to become scaling branded operators. Franchising has also emerged with brands such as Tentrr and Timberline Glamping. This concept allows entrepreneurs to skip the concept development stage and go direct to the construction and operations stage and join an existing technology and promotion platform.
The branded operator category of glamping includes brands such as AutoCamp, Collective Retreats, Huttopia, Under Canvas and Getaway. These brands are well backed financially and have acquisitions teams pushing for scale across the country. While this popular category and its growing list of brands receives glowing press, pipeline growth remains slower than projected due to slow entitlement processes, rising development costs and a recent tightening of investment capital. Regardless, these national brands, with their favorable guest experiences and attractive social media presence, are doing the heavy lifting to keep the positive promotion of glamping rolling.
OUTDOOR MOTELS
Prior to the Pandemic, groups such as Basecamp Hotels and LOGE Camps saw the demand for affordable motel style accommodation in outdoor destinations. However, the typical unbranded motel was generally unappealing to Millennials and Gen Z outdoor enthusiast. These brands reposition their facilities with contemporary “mountain modern” interior design, add a barista and bar at the front desk and create a cool outdoorsy ambiance. LOGE Camps also incorporate familiar retail brands like Yeti coolers, Rumpl puffy blankets and Kammok hammocks into their guestrooms. They also rent mountain bikes, snowshoes, and other equipment to guests. Seeing this success, AutoCamp launched its sub-brand Field Station to compete directly with Basecamp and LOGE Camps. Similarly, hospitality legends Barry Sternlich of Starwood Capital (W Hotels and One Hotels founder) and Ben Weprin of AJ Capital (Graduate Hotels founder) joined forces to re-purpose the Field & Stream brand and enter the fray.
HYBRID RV PARKS
Traditional RV parks located in nature-based destinations that offer accommodation units or “hybrid RV parks” meet the needs of travelers towing their own guestrooms (“RVrs”) as well as those looking for outdoor accommodation. Brands such as KOA, Sun Outdoors and independent operators such as Horizon Outdoor Hospitality have all embraced adding accommodation to their core RV site product. The addition of high-end accommodation units to an RV Park has pushed some operators to lift the overall quality of facilities and amenities for these guests. State of the art RV parks such as Bay Point Landing in Bandon, Oregon or Camp Eddy in Grand Junction, Colorado, boast contemporary indoor/outdoor lounges, co-working space, gyms, communal fire pits that are akin more to a lifestyle boutique hotel than an RV park.
These creative approaches to expanding accommodation options in the outdoors is inspiring new entrants every day. Outdoor hospitality will always be a big tent and hopefully continue to entice more people to disconnect with technology and reconnect with nature and one another.
About Todd G. Wynne-Parry
A seasoned leader in the hospitality industry, Todd has over 30 years of hotel development experience, having held senior leadership positions at several major hotel brands and most recently AutoCamp and Two Roads Hospitality. A dual-citizen of the US and Australia, Wynne-Parry has lived and worked in the U.S., Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. He was instrumental in the development efforts for IHG, Starwood and Marriott in the Asia Pacific region and for Two Roads Hospitality globally. He began his career as a hotel consultant in the San Diego office of Laventhol & Horwath, the predecessor to Horwath HTL. He is now Managing Director of Horwath HTL and leads the Outdoor Hospitality practice for North America. Horwath HTL is the largest independent hospitality consultancy with 52 offices worldwide.
Todd earned an MBA from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management and sits on the advisory council of the American Glamping Association. In his spare time, Todd enjoys fly fishing and exploring the western US in his 1953 Airstream.
