Yurts, Geodomes, Tents, and Treehouses: The Pandemic Has Changed Getaways for Good
The pandemic was trouble for most industries, except glamping, where a boost in alternative travel now drives its 2021 expansion.
The TL;DR
Glamping (luxury camping) exploded in 2020 and will be even bigger in 2021.
Glamping Hub reports that bookings in 2020 "increased 91% compared to 2019.”
Under Canvas, a leading name in glamping, is investing $15 million in expansion in 2021.
Seventy percent of US and Canadian travelers plan to take a vacation in 2021, but less than half (45 percent) are making plans.
So you want to camp, but you don’t want to be without an en suite bathroom and king-sized bed—then glamping is definitely your thing. Who can blame you for wanting to rough-it with a full bathroom and shower in a tent?
You’re also not alone, though. During this last miserable, no good year, a lot of people have discovered that glamping (“glamorous camping”) is their thing. The industry has done so well that it’s expanding and it is redefining what a getaway could be. It may, I hope, become a gateway to nature for the outdoors adverse.
What is Glamping?
Glamping—a luxury accommodation in the outdoors—is not a single type of stay. It can take many shapes—a yurt, geodome, or treehouse, for example. There are primitive versions of each of these, but with glamping, they are taken up several notches.
My first real experience with glamping was during a vacation outside of Moab, Utah just a few years ago. I booked a tent at Under Canvas—a leading name in luxury camping—and planned to spend days hiking around Arches National Park. The goal was to return to a shower in the evening, hop in my king bed, and watch the sun disappear and then rise again the next morning over the colorful desert. It turned out to be a much hotter May than projected, but thankfully the tent also came with a misting system to cool things down.
There are some obvious benefits to glamping and traditional camping.
Both get you outdoors and near opportunities to hike or snowshoe or swim. Camping has always had shades of roughing-it. Primitive campsites for tent or hammock camping are stripped down, but the majority will provide amenities, like hookups for electrical, water, and sewer. The cost is usually low.
But that was your grandpa’s version of glamping.
Glamping, as it has emerged in the last decade or so, is a having both-worlds approach. As with any luxury accommodation, it costs significantly more than camping (usually $250+), but it also provides a level of comfort that you don’t get in traditional camping. In this way, I’ve found glamping to be a gateway accommodation to the outdoors, where individuals who are outdoors resistant will still give glamping a try. That can lead to activities like hiking or kayaking, and hopefully an addiction to being in nature.
(As my last piece noted, nature has its real health benefits.)
Last year, the pandemic provided an extra incentive for glamping, as those who were not comfortable with hotels, but still wanted to travel, could get the luxury and social distancing in one place. The glamping world benefited.
Glamping’s Exploding Industry
While the impact of the pandemic on various industries is still being felt, glamping experienced significant growth. By July of 2020, it was already becoming clear that U.S. vacationers found glamping to be a safer opportunity for escape and bookings were spiking. The Guardian reported increases in bookings, with “some 400% busier than the same time” in 2019.
Early last July, I also reported on what glamping resorts were expecting in 2020 for Business Insider. Some were uncertain, but most expected to be in a good position to offer a pandemic friendly getaway, and they were right.
Within the industry, Glamping Hub—a glamping booking site—reported that bookings in 2020 “for highly secluded accommodations increased 91% compared to 2019,” with “in-state searches” increasing by “67% more than out of state searches.” Their top five accommodations were “cabins, cottages, treehouses, log cabins, and yurts.”
This increase in interest means there’s a need to meet the demand.
It is no surprise, then, that on the heels of a busy 2020, Under Canvas announced that “over $15 million has been invested across the brand’s seven existing camps and two new camps, with additional locations in the pipeline.” In their expansion efforts, they’re opening Under Canvas Acadia, (video) a waterfront property (in May), and Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase (in April).
Under Canvas sites especially benefit from their proximity to national parks, like Zion National Park or The Great Smoky Mountains.
More regional operations are also feeling the benefits.
In Ohio, The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls is also expanding, adding to their already large selection of cabins, cottages, and yurts to include new geodomes launching in 2021. I’ve stayed there twice now, enjoying their secluded cottages and winter cozy yurts—the latter during the pandemic. The new posh domes offer beautiful sunrise views over the wooded Hocking Hills landscape, wood floors, galley kitchen, and en ensuite bathroom. They’re just a short distance from their restaurant, Kindred Spirits.
Globally, similar types of expansion are also happening.
FURTHER.SPACE, for example, which partners with rural landowners in Scotland and Ireland to provide glamping pods in unique locations, is also growing in 2021 thanks to a recent £500k investment.
Similarly, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, the camping franchise with a long history connected to national parks in the U.S., is going to expand its camping and glamping (yurts and cabins) franchise deeper into Canada after a booming year in 2020. (Sales were up 11%.)
Glamp Near Home
We’re all hoping to get back to normal in 2021, but travel restrictions are likely to remain in place for some time. Normal will be redefined—and we all know it.
A survey commissioned by Airbnb and conducted by ClearPath Strategies of 1,010 US adults at the end of last year, for example, shows “62 percent of people [are] interested in taking a vacation within driving distance of home.” Similarly, a Travel Leaders Group survey of 3,000 frequent travelers, 70 percent of US and Canadian travelers plan to take a vacation in 2021, but among those surveyed, less than half (45 percent) are making plans and 54 percent say they are “dreaming” about it. For at least 18 percent, that travel is not expected to resume until 2022.
Traditional camping and glamping within a short distance of home may still be the best option for travel many of us have this next year.
Within a short ride from my own home, for example, I have access to Metroparks Toledo’s amazing Cannaley Treehouse Village or Mohicans Treehouse Resort, which is also expanding, and other forms of unique outdoor stays that might help fight the crushing despair that is the pandemic without having to be in crowded spaces.
So, if you haven’t tried glamping, and you want to, start booking your visits now and look closer to home. You may be surprised by what you find. You can still getaway in style, keep your distance, and avoid the dread of a staycation.
Hi, I’m Brandon Withrow. I'm a freelance travel journalist—stranded by the pandemic. You’ll find me in places like The Daily Beast, Business Insider, and Sierra Magazine. Follow me on Twitter or Instagram or visit brandonwithrow.com.
Fascinating. I knew nothing about any of this, and learned several new words.