Pandemic and new opportunities: the boom in camping and glamping

In the pre-Covid era, planning a holiday well in advance or buying a last–minute flight ticket to a popular destination were part of the normal travel behaviour of tourists from all over the world. With the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, these practices underwent a radical transformation: international and mass tourism gave way to domestic, proximity tourism and the more recent trend of staycation.  

Despite this difficult situation, a new opportunity is emerging for the tourism sector: as the CEO of Tentrr, a New York-based portal offering camping and glamping accommodation throughout the United States points out, travellers tend to prefer open-air holidays more than ever, making this travel motivation a trend that is consolidating. 

Confirmation of this trend comes from all over the world: in Europe, the Irish platform Campsited reported a five-fold increase in revenue in 2020 despite the effects of the pandemic, and says it expects strong growth again for the summer of 2021. In the United States, the Guardian reports that camping and glamping booking services reported high peaks of activity in 2020, as much as 400% compared to the same period in 2019. The same is also true for companies offering motorised vehicles and outdoor equipment, which claim to have experienced strong growth in sales and rentals in 2020. As a result, everyone in the industry expects further growth in the years to come. China is also subject to this trend: according to the “Global Independent Travel Report 2020“, the main activities of Chinese independent travellers in 2020 were outdoor and nature-based activities, including hiking and camping. Rural tourism is in fact a strong trend in Chinese post-Covid domestic tourism, and projections for 2021 further confirm this.

At Twissen we observed that as a result of the pandemic dynamics, travellers tend to prefer travel solutions that involve social distancing and safety, without neglecting quality of service. The outdoor industry should seize this opportunity to evolve and effectively communicate its services and safety standards to a potentially growing market. 

Twissen