Tented Camps Are Fast Becoming the World’s Best Resorts

 

They’re Popping Up Everywhere, From Mexico To Laos—and Luxury Travelers Can’t Get Enough. Here’s Why.

At one point in the mid-2010s, “glamping” became a four-letter word.

A sudden boom in upscale tented accommodations—which ultimately felt neither glamorous nor like camping—saw the trend go from boom to bust as quickly as spaghetti donuts and ramen burgers.

 

But now, glamping is back, and the glamour factor is through the canvas roof.

 

Everywhere from Luang Prabang to New South Wales, Tulum to Costa Rica—even in the heart of New York—hoteliers are ditching bricks and mortar walls and ceilings for safari-style tents, many with free-standing bathtubs, fireplaces, wood floors, and outdoor dual-head rain showers. The concept has become so high-end, “glamping” no longer does it justice.

 

For travellers, the experience offers novelty, digital disconnection, and access to experiences that are at once authentic and Instagrammable (when you get back on Wi-Fi). Think interacting with rescued elephants in northern Thailand at Four Season’s Golden Triangle tented camp, or hot air ballooning over the Rocky Mountains from the Resort at Paws Up, in Montana.

 

“Kids love it—it’s great for multigenerational trips,” says Jack Ezon, president of Ovation Vacations. “It’s a completely different experience.” He says clients come to him with tented properties on their bucket lists—or simply looking for something “different” and outdoorsy.

 

How Tents Lured The Ultra-rich

At the start of the luxury tent business, the market was concentrated in Africa’s game parks. “All I knew was that 50 to 70 percent of the guests at the top-tier safari lodges in Africa were coming from the U.S”. That signalled that the safari tents concept might have legs in other naturally pristine destinations.

 

There is a lot of demand for quality safari tents and little supply as good as Tentickle Luxury Tents. And as the market for eco-sensitive and off-the-grid vacations has spiked, tented camps have benefited even more.

 

Think of these projects not just as fancy tents, but as conduits to unique experiences. You flip the concept of designing the box and filling it with activities. Instead, we design the activities first and then design the box around them.

 

At the upcoming Shinta Mani Wild, on the border of Cambodia’s Cardamom National Park, guests will be able to eat at a restaurant tucked under a waterfall and zipline into the resort before sleeping off their adventures in Jackie O-inspired tents. It will open in December. At the One&Only in Riviera Nayarit, coming in 2020, guests will practically be able to roll out of their beds and onto a horse for sunset rides on a white, powdery beach. 

Why They’re (Mostly) Great For Business

Hoteliers who invest in tented projects can expect to generate 20 percent to 40 percent more in revenues than their six-star bricks-and-mortar counterparts, and construction costs can be as much as 50 percent lower—particularly in cases where the tents are just one part of an existing resort that has already established the necessary infrastructure. Still, this doesn’t make these camps affordable or easy to build.

 

We are in the luxury or beyond-luxury categories, so everything has to be truly custom. Catering to varying weather patterns—plus consumers who might need family-friendly setups—can add up to a lot of costly customizations. Some are moveable, as you’d tend to think when it comes to tents; others aren’t. Some have permanent decks with in-ground plumbing, and others don’t. 

 

Of course, you can spend less (and charge less). Look no further than Collective Retreats, a brand built on simpler glamping principles, with locations in Yellowstone National Park and Governor’s Island, with views of Manhattan’s Financial District. Its tents start at $150 per night.

 

In Australia, Sierra Escape, Nashdale Lane, and Bubbletent are all new concepts that are less full-service hotels, more unconventional accommodations.

 

“We wanted to do something completely different and immerse guests in the environment without taking away the luxury,” says Cameron D’Arcy, co-founder of Sierra Escape, a three-tent camp in New South Wales, Australia. As a marketing professional, he says the concept is a no-brainer: “Thanks to the Instagram appeal, the product almost markets itself.”

.

.

.

Article sourced from https://bushtecsafari.com/