The article was published on MC.today.
Glamping means "glamorous camping" (a combination of the words glamour and camping). This concept emerged in the early 2000s in the UK. Glamping is a complex with comfortable tents with a bed, kitchen and bathroom. It resembles a room in a five-star hotel, set against the backdrop of amazing nature.
The glamping market started to develop in Ukraine relatively recently: interest increased in 2020-2021 against the background of COVID-19 and related restrictions, when tourists could not travel abroad. And every year it becomes more and more popular, as it allows you to relax among nature with the comfort of hotel level. Considering that the percentage of domestic tourism in Ukraine is more than 40%, glamping competes with standard hotel vacations. I will tell you what steps are involved in opening a glamping site.
Author: Sergey Boev, Managing Partner, Mandra Glampings
Location selection
Ukraine has a rich natural potential, unknown to the general public until the end. We recommend choosing view plots in the mountains, near water bodies (sea, lake, river), in a dense forest, a winding canyon, on a hill with an incredible natural panoramic view, so that guests can feel unity with nature, as the glamping format provides.
"Our chain has its own thing: we place the windows in the glampings so that they always face the sunset or sunrise so that people can enjoy the beauty of the sky," says Artur Lupashko, founder of the Ribas Hotels and Mandra Glampings chains.
Construction
The advantage of opening a glamping site is that it does not require permits to be placed on the territory, so it can be erected on any location.
However, compared to building a hotel, glamping sites often use environmentally friendly materials. In addition, this format does not require a heavy foundation. The main thing is to equip it with engineering systems: water supply and heating, electricity, Wi-Fi.
Pictured: Mandra Hills
Infrastructure
In addition to comfort and communications equipment, it is desirable to develop infrastructure in glamping. Yes, you can build additional swimming pools, vats, baths, a restaurant, a yoga area, a summer movie theater and create other interesting places so that guests stay with you as long as possible.
Financial structure
The average investment in glamping is $100-300 thousand, depending on the type of glamping and infrastructure in the area.
As for the financial model, before opening each glamping site, Mandra Glampings calculates it individually, according to the number of tent structures, the location of the complex, the average population and wages of people living in cities located two hours away from the site. The average price for glamping accommodation in Ukraine is $50-150 per day.
Pictured: Mandra Lavandiia
Payback period
The payback period for such businesses is 2-4 years. For example, Mandra Kaniv Glamping, which opened in June 2021, according to the financial plan, will pay off in September 2023.
Customer attraction
It is very hard to make a glamping site meaningful and fulfilling so that guests feel at home. And it is even harder to make people come to your glamping site for a vacation. This is where a combination of a good location and glamping style can help.
The next thing to work on is the format for attracting customers. "Social media works very well for this, where you can post videos and photos from the glamping experience, conveying its ambience through the screen. About 90% of bookings at Mandra Glampings come from the Instagram page. The rest are from the chain's website and Booking," notes Artur Lupashko.
Glampings of the chain Mandra Glampings
Mandra Glampings now operates three of the five glamping sites in the Mandra Glampings chain. These are Mandra Kaniv, Mandra Hills and Mandra Lavandiia. The last one was opened in early August. Our first glamping Mandra Zatoka operated successfully for two seasons in 2020 and 2021, but is not operating for the second year due to the war. Mandra Chateau Trubetskoy was destroyed by invaders from russia.
Each of them has its own characteristics. They are connected with the location. Thus, Mandra Kaniv is located in the village of Liplyavo near Kanev, on the bank of the Kanev reservoir. Mandra Lavandiia is located in the village Protopopovka on the shore of Hajibey estuary among the lavender field. Mandra Hills - in the village Richka of Zakarpattya region at an altitude of 900 meters in the middle of the mountains. In addition, glamping sites have different stylization. For example, Mandra Lavandiia glamps resemble seashells, Mandra Hills - domes in different styles: Everest, Kilimanjaro, Fuji, Mont Blanc and Hoverla. And the shape of Mandra Kaniv and Mandra Zatoka gleams resembles small houses.
Read the continuation of this article on the MC.today publication's website.
Creation of a hotel design project with Ribas Hotels Group. More details follow the link.
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