Love, passion, vibe. These three words contain the secret of the success of Vacanze col Cuore, which at the Glamping Resort Orlando in Chianti, in Tuscany, took the opportunity of the inauguration of a new “spray park” to offer a glimpse into the world of “glamping”. The entire Van de Loo family – Loek, Chicca, Leonardo and Alessandro – welcomed the press and influencers to underline their vision of this type of tourism, especially in a period in which, on the one hand, the definition of glamping has some shaded contours and on the other hand it is sometimes used inappropriately. What is certain is that the growth trend of this market sector is destined to continue.
Alessandro Van de Loo highlighted how the search for the word glamping on the Internet began in 2014 and has since continued to grow without ever stopping, while the term camping in the same period has remained substantially stable. The phenomenon is global: everywhere in the world – with the exceptions of Africa and the Far East – interest is high.
The market
In 2018, the sector, according to the analysis conducted by the research firm Grand View Research, was worth $2.1 billion worldwide. Since then, the average annual growth has been 12.5%, and in 2025 it is expected to reach $4.5 billion. Glamping also escapes a precise definition: everyone knows what it is, but no one can describe it exactly. A research carried out by the University of Aalborg has analyzed over 280 publications that have talked about this phenomenon without reaching a precise conclusion. What is certain is that there are recurring elements – such as nature, luxury, high quality services, and sustainability – without which nothing can be defined as glamping.
What is evident is that we are facing a continuous evolution: glamping was born as the maturation of camping, but now the trend towards a “glamping 2.0” is emerging, where the concept of tiny houses, eco-sustainable and usable even in less favorable places and seasons, is growing rapidly.
Social trends
Then there are the so-called “social trends”. The main ones are simplicity, nature and clean air, freedom (no timetables that characterize hotel and village holidays) and safety (intended both as public safety and for children). Another important trend is that of the “zero footprint“, a concept that, especially in Northern Europe, is rapidly gaining ground and which sees the installation or reconditioning of structures and materials with the aim of reducing the environmental impact.
Today the guest is very attentive to everything related to respect for the environment, adopting an eco-minded attitude. Cleaning products, water recycling, photovoltaics, and other small precautions that in the past did not arouse any interest today take on a certain importance in the search for the structure where to spend the holidays. Local destinations and tourism are other well-established trends. People want to experience the area and this concept goes very well with that of glamping.
Remaining within the context of social trends, mind and body care are two aspects appreciated by the guest. We no longer speak only of physical leisure, but also of mental leisure, perhaps providing yoga or coaching courses. Wellness and SPA are attracting more and more attention, especially when these are accompanied by an open-air wellness capable of creating an experience out of the ordinary.
Gramping, a term that derives from the union of “grandparents” (grandparents) and camping, is also interesting. It is an intra-generational holiday, with grandparents who are of help and support in managing the children, but also in sharing expenses and who lead the extended family to spend time together. Thus, dedicated offers emerge, and accommodations designed specifically for large families are born.
Another important trend is that of holidays with pets. In Italy there are 16 million cats and dogs, with a growth of 9 percent compared to 2021. Half of the owners prefer to take them on holiday and therefore the destination is also chosen according to this possibility. Glamping facilities are relatively easy to organize to welcome them.
Finally, work, sport, and relaxation are three interesting social trends. On the first front it is necessary to offer spaces within the structure where it is possible to work, while on the sports front there are structures that successfully offer guests the opportunity to enjoy a high-level sports experience, both through active holidays and competitions in the area and with the offer of clinics created with the support of professional athletes.
Marketing trends
Social trends identify a customer who seeks a 360-degree experience. To communicate with this guest it is important to be able to do it the right way. Vacanze col Cuore in recent years have focused on social media and influencers, taking care to always be found well positioned on the “billboards” (Google, Expedia, Booking.com, Trivago, to name a few). Printed paper and traditional channels have been exploited to better position themselves in the niches.
This choice proved to be useful during the pandemic crisis, because social media channels made it possible to maintain constant contact with guests, giving a face to Vacanze col Cuore. The group has used this means to update its customers on the Italian situation and to carry out influencer marketing in three basic languages (Italian, English, and Dutch) with specific operations also in Polish and German. And this operation was much appreciated, so much so that it reached more than one million views.
Hopefully closed the pandemic period, glamping facilities are increasingly seen as horizontal hotels. They are therefore no longer a simple evolution of camping, but are also offered to those who have always been used to other types of holidays, essentially skipping the step of the traditional camping experience. This will allow in the future to attract completely new types and segments of customers, for which the most important element is not the price, but the lived experience.
The data show that today the group most interested in traveling is made up of people between the ages of 18 and 34, who must therefore be reached with the new means of communication. For example, the Orlando in Chianti “glamping collection” is aimed at this type of public, where you can find American Airstream caravans, vintage caravans and even a large school bus.
A research by HomeToGo has shown that the search for international destinations for 2022 has grown by 88% compared to 2019 and that Tuscany is the region that has had the highest growth rate worldwide (+ 141%). “The Italian market for us was non-existent before Covid,” said Alessandro Van de Loo. “In July 2019, compatriots represented 10% of our customers. That year we collected 3,000 phone calls, which increased to 15,000 in 2021. Today we return to see foreigners, but Italians continue to take an interest. This will allow us to extend the season and improve employment“.
However, we must be aware of the different habits of these two types of customers. Italians book on average only 20 days in advance, stopping for three nights, while a foreign customer books 80 days in advance and stays for 5.5 days.
Product trends
Today the types of accommodation and experience are multiplying. “Offering mobile homes to families and couples alike doesn’t work,” Loek Van de Loo points out. “We need to propose ad hoc offers. In addition, the growth of motorhomes is raising the demand for pitches that must have special requirements, such as 16 amperes current or private bathroom“. A type of clientele that it will be necessary to think more and more, given the number of registrations that are being registered throughout Europe and in Germany in particular.
On the “zero footprint” front, mobile homes that are not connected to the sewer are being tested in the Netherlands: they have a double floor that contains tanks for clear and wastewater that are filled and emptied every two days. These structures are placed in the spring and removed in the autumn, leaving no mark on the area. There is also a tendency in campsites to build hotels within villages, and this goes well with gramping. Hotel and glamping are getting closer and closer.
Other examples of new trends were pop-up glamping – very popular but too expensive – and so-called winter glamping. “In Orlando we opened 40 mobile homes that sold out every weekend, mostly thanks to the couples,” said Loek Van de Loo. “When it snowed and the guests found themselves in the ‘hot tube’ with wild boars and deer around, the experience was incredible“.
In mid-June in Orlando in Chianti a glamping wedding will be celebrated for a family of 100, which will also be broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the Netherlands. Another trend is to rent the gardens to motorhomes and caravans, but this is a phenomenon considered complementary to that of camping and glamping.
Vacanze col Cuore
Leonardo van de Loo, operational manager of Vacanze col Cuore for Northern Italy, was given the task of sketching the contours of the group, which today boasts 7 villages in Italy and one in Holland. The experience behind it comes from the late 1970s, when Loek and Chicca met in a campsite on Lake Garda. After having founded the Weekend campsite on the Gulf of Salò and the Park Residence Il Gabbiano with masonry apartments, they created a winter tour operator: Intergarda. It then became Vacanceselect and was sold in 2018, when it boasted over 350 employees having offices throughout Northern Europe.
The adventure of Vacanze col Cuore therefore began in 2019 with three structures: to the two original ones, in 2012 the one in Orlando in Chianti was added. Then the Glamping Resort Vallicella arrived in Maremma, the Camping Boutique Sivinos and the Glamping Boutique Vacanza on Lake Garda, and finally – last year – the Lago d’Idro Glamping Boutique and the Papillon Country Resort in Holland.
“The values that unite all our locations, unique and immersed in nature, are privacy and tranquility, with the return to nature as the foundation,” said Leonardo Van de Loo. “We try to give our guests a unique experience by aiming for the wow effect! to positively surprise the customer“.
The Glamping Resort Orlando in Chianti covers an area of 24 hectares, all immersed in an oak forest, and has a relatively small accommodation capacity (1,100 people), or 225 square meters per guest – a value that few can boast. Strategically positioned to visit the cities of art – Florence, Siena, and Arezzo – it was the first European facility completely dedicated to glamping.
Greetings from FAITA-FederCamping
At the end of the event dedicated to glamping, Alberto Granzotto, president of FAITA-FederCamping, also spoke. “It is a thrill to be here, because today the evolution of outdoor tourism was told,” he said. “What has been expressed is the same vision that we also have as an association. Contact with the territory is essential, because the average stay is higher than that of other types of holidays. Loek van de Loo was somewhat the teacher of many of us. Nationally this is a very important season. 2020 and 2021 were dramatic years for our sector, with a 50% loss in 2020 and an insufficient recovery last year. For 2022, if the weather assists us and the war does not get worse, the forecasts say that we should see the same numbers as in 2019, and hopefully even surpass them. We have an important return of foreign tourists to which are added those Italians who have known this type of structures during the Corona period“.
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