Tourism

From pods to treehouses, glamping is all the fashion. Here’s the way to book a glam European camping trip

June 3, 2024

Intend to make essentially the most of the good outdoors in your summer holidays but don’t know where to start out?

Lots of us are dreaming of summer getaways and an increasing number are hoping to avoid package holidays and formulaic beach trips, as an alternative getting back to nature.

In a progressively more hectic world, travellers are more incessantly selecting to plump for camping trips over fancy hotels and resorts.

Dan Yates has seen that change for himself.

He’s the founding father of Pitchup.com, a number one outdoor accommodation search and booking platform for campsites across the UK, Europe and beyond.

With locations across 69 countries, the UK-based business was founded in 2009 and, within the last 15 years, has gone from strength to strength. It handled 850,000 bookings last 12 months.

Dan clearly knows a thing or two about the way to book the highest camping and glamping experiences. Here’s what he’s learned concerning the booking process – and what to do if the weather isn’t in your side.

How did Pitchup come about?

“I used to be brought up in a vacation park in Devon [southwest England], living above the clubhouse, so it was probably inevitable I wouldn’t stray far,” Dan tells Euronews Travel.

While at university, he would skip lectures and work with local web designers to create a site for the business while the web began to take off within the late Nineteen Nineties.

By 2002, that company was achieving number-one rankings on Google UK and received half of all bookings online.

“After that business was sold, I kept wondering why holiday parks and campsites, the most important form of domestic holiday accommodation by night, were still so neglected online,” Dan says.

“High-profile online travel agents targeting all the opposite categories of accommodation were growing fast: the sector was losing out as customers moved online to search out their holidays.”

After working at lastminute.com in 2008, Dan realised the marketplace for online booking was about to go sky high and, 12 months later, he founded Pitchup.com.

What are you able to book through Pitchup – and is it accessible to everyone?

Today, Pitchup.com hosts around 6,000 individual web sites offering camping pitches and glamping options like shepherds huts, yurts, cabins, lodges and static caravans.

“You’ll be able to book a break in minutes: just add your location, dates, party size and preferred accommodation type and click on search,” Dan explains, “you’ll be able to then move across the map, browse available sites, review listings and book your favourite.”

When asked if the web site is usable by those less computer-literate than average, Dan assured Euronews Travel that’s the case and offline customer support support is obtainable.

With a global audience, most bookings come from the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

The most important growths though have been from Swedish travellers, who’re booking 190 per cent greater than in previous years, followed by holidaymakers from Switzerland, Hungary, Poland and Ireland.

85 per cent of bookings are currently made for domestic trips, although non-domestic bookings are currently seeing the most important growth – up some 40 per cent thus far this 12 months, in comparison with 2023.

Bookers are also increasingly on the lookout for more odd types of camping accommodation, with pods the preferred glamping type this 12 months, followed by cabins, bell tents, shepherd’s huts and static caravans.

Interestingly, Dan says, “treehouses are experiencing the quickest growth, nevertheless, with nearly double the bookings thus far this 12 months in comparison with last 12 months, followed by wigwams.”

Why are more people selecting holidays with a give attention to ‘going back to nature’?

Dan says there are several reasons persons are selecting camping trips over luxury holidays, with reasons starting from wellbeing to cost and to concerns over the climate crisis.

“Going ‘back to nature’ is inherently good for our mental health and wellbeing and it tends to be less expensive,” he tells Euronews Travel.

“It’s also more sustainable: carbon footprints of outdoor holidays are inclined to be much lower than hotel stays, not only because most individuals are inclined to travel by automotive reasonably than flying, but additionally due to promoting local produce and low-impact activities like mountain climbing in the encompassing area, in addition to less carbon-intensive construction,” Dan adds.

There’s one issue many outdoor enthusiasts are afflicted with, though: lower than nice weather.

In case of inclement climes in your camping trip, Dan has some advice.

“If the weather is terrible and you’re under canvas, try to maintain your bedroom a wet gear-free zone. Store and dry wet stuff in your porch area reasonably than in your bedroom compartment. Protect your equipment by putting them in plastic bags or dry bags,” he says.

“Don’t let anything touch your tent partitions or you’ll have soggy socks.”

If all else fails he recommends a few activities in case of downpours: “go swimming in the ocean, because you’re wet already – or go to the pub.”