The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Today, we spoke to Nancy Sweeney, owner of the Woods of Eden Glampground in Maine. As well as explaining how she created a 5-star glamping experience, she taught us about the smartest land-buying tactic we've ever seen from a glamping business. It won't work for everyone, but emulating it can drastically reduce your project's permitting risk... Glampitect North Amer...

Send us Fan Mail How much more can you charge per night when you have ensuite bathrooms vs shared bathrooms? How much are glamping businesses that offer food and beverage able to charge compared to self-catered sites? Today, we're joined by Connor Schwab of Sage Outdoor Advisory. Connor and the team at Sage produce feasibility studies for prospective and existing glamping operators, and throu...

Send us Fan Mail Today's guest is an unusual one. He got his first glamping business up and running for less than $10,000, which is almost unheard of in the glamping industry. Listen to discover how Nick Rodriguez achieved his glamping dreams without breaking the bank. Glampitect North America is preparing to develop glamping resorts of our own. If you're interested in investing, just fi...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we're joined by Donna Vaughan of Hawley Farm Glamping.  Hawley Farm consistently gets rave reviews from guests, and a lot of it is down to tricks of the trade that Donna picked up from her past life as a restaurant owner. Listen to discover her secrets and how you can apply them to your own glamping business. Visit Glampitect's Website Like Glampitect on Facebook...

Send us Fan Mail Click here to leave a review on our Apple Podcasts page Click here to subscribe to our Youtube channel This podcast is powered by Sage Outdoor Advisory , the industry leaders in feasibility studies and appraisals. 

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Patrick Gauvin, Co-Founder of Cielo Maritime Glamping.  Cielo Maritime Glamping is a glampground that operates all-year-round despite its snowy New Brunswick setting, but that's not its only unique feature. They also have "The Hub", which is an on-site bar, market and restaurant offering a range of locally sourced goods.  We talked to Patr...

Send us Fan Mail Alex Burkett is the CEO of Outdoor Alliances, a marketing company that specializes in outdoor hospitality resorts. Today, Alex shares his secrets to marketing a glamping business. We cover how short-form videos can be a huge money-maker for glamping businesses; Facebook vs Instagram; what Alex would do if he had to market a glamping business from scratch; and much, much more. Visi...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Zach Stoltenberg, who's an architect and hospitality designer at Clockwork Architecture + Design. Zach is a true expert in the glamping space, having designed multiple glamping resorts, along with RV parks and other experiential destinations. He's a specialist in acquiring permits for these types of projects, and today he shares his top tips fo...

Send us Fan Mail Today we spoke to Kevin Rains and his son, Izaac, who own Dappled Light Adventures in Kentucky. They spoke to us about how the 24 years they spent in a Christian intentional community prepared them for life as glamping site owners. They also give two genius marketing tips that have had a huge effect on their glamping site's bottom line. Visit Glampitect's Website Like Gl...

Send us Fan Mail The first thing you should do when starting the glamping site setup journey is to check your zoning, yet it's a stage that's overlooked by so many people. Those people are making a huge mistake. Knowing how your land is zoned provides the foundation for everything that follows. Doing some basic zoning checks will lead to one of two outcomes: (1) You increase your chances...

Send us Fan Mail Joining us today are Vicki and Brian Jones of Tractors & Cream. They own a family-run glamping business in Somerset, as well as a thriving Youtube channel that details their lives as glamping site owners.  We talk about the trials and tribulations of setting up and running a glamping business as a couple, including the arguments it can create!  Links Glampitect's website...

Send us Fan Mail Kelda Bassett is a Director at Trudomes, a geodesic dome manufacturer specialising in the glamping industry. Kelda's experience isn't just confined to domes though; she's had an extensive career in the hospitality industry and knows how to create a fantastic customer experience. Today's episode covers a variety of subjects, including creating 'magic moment...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by David and Felicity Brown of Hoe Grange Holidays. They offer accessible accommodation to those with additional needs on their site in Derbyshire.  As you'll learn from listening to this episode, accessibility is about a lot more than just catering for people in wheelchairs. It includes people with learning difficulties, hearing difficulties, the elde...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Glampitect's co-founder, Ali Young, for the fourth time. Ali set up the first NC500 Pods site on the north coast of Scotland in 2019, and since then he's operated it completely remotely. More importantly, it's been consistently profitable and continues to thrive.  If you're interested in operating a glamping site remotely, or just loo...

Send us Fan Mail Glampitect and NC500 Pods co-founder Calum MacLeod returns to The Glampitect PODcast for a third time! In this episode, he talks about common business concepts and principles that can be applied to running a glamping business. These include: Competitor analysis Customer retention Marketing Attend the Farm Business Innovation Show! Links Visit Glampitect's website Check out Gl...

Send us Fan Mail After speaking to hundreds, if not thousands of people at The Glamping Show, we realised that there are lots of people out there who want to start a glamping business but don't currently have the land to do so. So, today we brought in the co-founder of Glampitect and NC500 Pods, Ali Young,  to discuss what you should bear in mind when looking for land suitable for a glamping...

Send us Fan Mail A common problem faced by many prospective glamping business owners is deciding which glamping units to purchase for their site. This isn't just about which units look prettiest; it's also about how many months in the year you'll be operating; how much you can afford to spend on setup; what your ROI targets are and more. There are so many things you need to consider...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Glampitect's Marketing Lead, Billy Louden.  Since joining the company this year, he's been implementing his marketing and branding expertise to grow both Glampitect and NC500 Pods' social media followings and balance sheets.  In this episode, we make the distinction between marketing and branding before focusing on the latter. We discuss w...

Send us Fan Mail Last time we spoke to Morag Sallabanks, she was waiting for it to stop raining so she could start putting her glamping site together. Seven months on, she's the owner of a thriving glamping business that's enjoyed an average occupancy rate of 80-85% since opening this summer. Today we catch up with Morag to find out how she's been so successful in her glamping journ...

Send us Fan Mail A theme that has cropped up in many episodes of The Glampitect PODcast is the importance of treating your glamping site as more than just a passion project. To operate a highly profitable site you must treat it like a business, which means doing your research, identifying your target market and providing excellent customer service. Today we're joined by Debbie Cockayne, who&a...

Send us Fan Mail Picking your dream glamping pods; looking for hot tubs; creating the perfect guest welcome package.  What do these three things have in common?  They're all exciting elements of starting a glamping business. Slightly less exciting is talk of wastewater, drainage and...well...poo. Yet these are absolutely vital parts of setting up a glamping site and they simply cannot be negl...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever thought about starting a glamping business but been put off by the costs involved? A lack of money doesn't necessarily signal the end of your glamping dream. Today we're joined by Ken Riley of GTF Event Equipment Financing to talk you through your financing options.  Links Visit Glampitect's website Check out Glampitect's Facebook page Take a look...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Luke Pica, Research and Reporting Lead at Glampitect. One of Luke's main roles is to oversee our feasibility study programme. A feasibility study is a vital stage of the glamping journey for any prospective glamping site owner, and in this episode we delve into what a feasibility study is, why it's important, what Glampitect offer in this regar...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by the Head of Operations at NC500 Limited, Craig Mills. Craig has played a huge role in growing NC500 as a business, facilitating partnerships with hundreds of businesses along the North Coast 500 route and driving  footfall to a once-neglected region of Scotland. There are several parallels between Craig's business and a glamping business, including...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Carol Oulton, owner of Newlands Hall Farm and the Weardale Retreat. Weardale Retreat is a glamping offering consisting of a shepherd hut and a hot tub overlooking the Durham Dales, and it's been a roaring success since Carol decided to diversify her farming business last year. If you're a farmer considering diversifying into glamping, this epis...