Glamping Industry Insights: How Far Will Guests Travel?
The question of how far a typical guest will travel for an average length stay has clear implications for anyone currently looking to invest in a glamping site. Cities are of course where the majority of people live in the UK and it is these city folk that will make up the vast majority of your glamping guests. Where you are in relation to cities is thus an important consideration when looking at the viability of your site and what sort of accommodation you should offer.
What’s Changing?
It appears that guests are looking for sites within a shorter travel distance from their homes. The difference from a few years ago is not vast, but certainly pronounced enough to have an effect on a site's bottom line.
See our graph below:
The biggest difference is in the number of guests now looking for sites within an hour of where they live. Guest’s looking for destinations within this range have doubled from just under 6% in 2018 to just over 12% at the end of last year.
An Important Note
The vast majority of the around 600 cabins we have on offer across the country, are our traditional ensuite, 4 berth glamping pods. These are excellent for 1-3 night stays but are not best suited for anything longer. It is partly due to our suitability for shorter stays, that we are seeing more guests wanting destinations within a shorter drive of their homes. Understandably, people like getting their weekend break started as soon as possible.
Another factor worth noting also is that both Wigwam Holidays and the wider glamping industry have grown considerably in recent years. Now that guests have more choices of destination generally, they have the option to go somewhere closer.
The rise in electric cars could also be having an impact. These vehicles do not have the same driving range as traditional engines. This may be encouraging their predominantly metropolitan user base to look for holiday destinations close enough for their new car. With electric vehicles making up 16% of new vehicle registrations in 2022, this rapidly growing industry is likely to be having an impact on our own.
What does this mean?
Interpreting exactly what this data means is not an exact science. What we know from looking at the above graph, is that guests looking to stay in our traditional glamping pods, don't want to travel as far as they used to for what is typically a short stay.
If you are thinking about starting a glamping site, this should be considered when looking at what cabins you are going to invest in. Being one of the most densely populated countries in the world, most places in England are within an hour or two of a large population of people. That means that shorter stays will be popular and traditional ensuite glamping pods will be a great fit.
These cabins also work particularly well in remote areas that get a lot of ‘road trip’ tourism. Places like Skye, the Outer Hebrides and more recently, the destinations along the ‘North Coast 500’.
If however, you are somewhere like Cornwall, an area very popular with tourists but not generally part of a holiday maker's road trip in the way of Skye or the Outer Hebrides, it might be worth looking at larger glamping pods or lodges better suited for longer stays.
Food for Thought
These are not intended as hard and fast rules. Most cabin types can work in most locations, but it is worth thinking about what your site and location is best suited for.
What we know from the data above, is that customers booking our traditional ensuite glamping pods are increasingly looking for sites closer to home. We think this is worth your consideration if you’re thinking about investing in a glamping site of your own.
Learn More about Wigwam
The Wigwam brand consists of two separate but overlapping businesses - Wigwam Cabins and Wigwam Holidays.
Wigwam Holidays operates as a franchise, booking system and website. It is one of the top glamping businesses in the UK, consisting of over 80 UK locations and welcomed over 100k guests last year. Wigwam Holidays offers a tried and tested franchise model to its franchisees, and “great holidays in the great outdoors” to its guests.
Wigwam Cabins is a manufacturer of high quality wooden cabins. It’s the business that invented the ‘glamping pod’ over 30 years ago. Today, from its workshop in Perth, Wigwam Cabins focuses on building a range of glamping pods and timber lodges. Fear not, you do not need to be a part of Wigwam Holidays to buy products from Wigwam Cabins.
Get in touch with us
If you would like any more information from us, please fill in the form below and we will get back to you within two working days or check out our full 2023 glamping market insights report here.
