⛺ The Growth of Glamping

Launch Letter is a weekly newsletter that breaks down real estate trends and stories. Subscribers include brokers, developers, industry executives, and investors. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join the others who receive it directly in their inbox each week — it’s free.

Here’s what you will learn in today’s email:

• Big Idea: The growth of glamping

• Charts and Data: A look at the typical ‘glamper’ and the market size

• Start-up and Companies: These three companies have raised massive capital to cash in on this trend

• Developments: Highlighting two smaller-scale development projects

• Takeaway: The future of glamping and how you can capitalize

⚡ Big Idea

By now, you may have heard of “glamping”, short for glamorous camping.

When I was a kid, we went camping. We pitched our own tent, and we slept on the ground. Not anymore. Instead of roughing it in the great outdoors with all of your own camping gear, glamping puts you right in nature, but you’re going to sleep on a nice, warm bed at night.

Glamping can mean sleeping in a yurt, a cabin, a tiny home, or any other type of shelter that provides you with a higher level of comfort.

Prior to the pandemic, there was a growing tendency to return to nature. We’re all stuck on our phones and devices all day, and nature provides us with a way to unplug.

Like so many other trends, glamping was accelerated by the pandemic.

It makes sense. We couldn’t be around other people, so let’s take all the comforts of home and bring them to beautiful locations in natural settings.

Glamping is a catch-all term, but the types of places that you can stay take on many forms.

There’s treehouse glamping.

Cabin glamping…

Gulstream glamping…

The idea is that you are giving people access to the great outdoors with a comfortable place to sleep at night.

Today we’re going to look at some data, explore the trend, break down other players in the space, and show how you can do it too.

📊 Charts and Data

The glamping industry is experiencing massive growth, set to surpass $5B market cap in 5 years and $7B in 10 years.

Millenials are driving the glamping trend. From the 2022 North American Glamping Report, we learn that the average ‘glampers’ are millenials with kids, making over $100k, staying 3-5 nights, and willing to travel over 100 miles for the experience.

While there is an element of budget consciousness, this is a demographic with the ability and desire to spend money on experiences.

It’s also important to look at the seasonality of this market. From this Google trends search, you can see the that search peaks in the summer around June/July and then falls off in the winter. The overall direction of the market has also trended upwards over the past 5 years.

💼 Start-ups and Companies

Now that we’ve identified the trend, let’s look at some of the players in the space.

Getaway 

Getaway is a company that I’ve been following for a while. They started in 2015, renting out their cabins in rural areas outside of major cities, like New York and LA.

Their model works by leasing space and then renting out one of their tiny home cabins.

While this may seem like a tiny, niche market, they’ve since expanded across the country into more than 30 markets.

To fuel their growth, they raised $41.7M in their Series C, with over $80M raised to date.

The company has grown 600% since 2018, and when traditional hospitality was struggling during the pandemic, Getaway saw above 90% occupancy rates.

AutoCamp

AutoCamp started as a simple Airstream rental concept in 2016 and demand exploded.

They’ve raised over $100M to bring their Airstream hotels into more than 30 markets. They also partnered with the manufacturer, Thor Industries, to become the exclusive developer of Airstream properties.

Collective Retreats

Collective Retreats has raised over $40M to expand their glamping experiences. The company started by offering bell tent lodges on Governor’s Island in New York. Their website lists 7 other destinations in the pipeline across the US.

🏘 Developments

While some companies have gone on to build at scale, there are smaller, bootstrap builders and operators that created some cool cash flow off the glamping trend.

Isaac French developed a property called Live Oak Lake, with seven tiny homes in Waco, Texas.

In 9 months, he took a 5 acre piece of land turned it into a 7 cabin glamping resort.

Isaac bought the land for $138k and received 80% of appraised value for construction financing. In total, he spent $2.5M for the build-out and the property appraised for $3.1M at completion. The company grossed $500k its first year with occupancy over 90%. Not bad for 9 months of work!

Robert Abasolo, better known as Robuilt on Youtube, is well known for his educational channel on Airbnb properties. He has also grown his own tiny glamping property empire, called Grand Glamping.

With unique tents, airstreams, and cabins, the property features 4 types of spaces on 7 acres of land with amenities like wood burning stoves and boardgames.

✅ Takeaway

Glamping is a trend that is here to stay. The data clearly shows the growth of this emerging trend and industry.

The pandemic accelerated the glamping trend and the desire to get outdoors. While camping requires equipment and outdoor skills, glamping allows people to get close to nature and have a comfortable stay with amenities.

For those that want to build their own glamp site to rent, fortunately, there are lots of resources now to get you started.

One of the most attractive features of this model is the low barrier to entry and the potential for a high ROI.

So how can you take advantage of the glamping trend?

Fortunately, there are many resources to guide you on getting started.

First, you’ll need a piece of land, either leased or owned.

Glampitect is one resource to help you identify land and feasibility.

Robuilt, mentioned above, also has a “Glamp Camp” to teach you how to get started.

Jupe is another company I recently discovered that may help landowners capitalize on the glamping trend. The company is building “dwellings of the future” and is looking to capitalize on glamping. Their innovative model lets you buy the product outright for around $20k, or you can partner with them with little to no money up front and a profit-share with the company on the backend.

How can you rent out your property?

Finally, once you get your project off the ground, you’ll need a place to list it.

HipCamp is a company that emerged as a marketplace to discover and book camping and glamping spaces.

Airbnb is also a popular booking platform for these properties.

Looking for a way to invest with less headache? 

If you’re looking to reap the benefits with no work, Here.co is a company that helps you invest passively in vacation rentals.

Whether you are looking to invest actively or passively, the opportunities are abundant in the space.

Launch Letter is a weekly newsletter that breaks down real estate trends and stories. Subscribers include brokers, developers, industry executives, and investors. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join the others who receive it directly in their inbox each week — it’s free.