Glamping venues provide camping for the glamorous

What sounds like an oxymoron, ‘glamping’ (glamorous camping) is the latest phenomenon to sweep Australia’s tourism industry.

Newly opened glamping venues are offering holidaymakers a chance to relax, indulge and explore on a budget.

On what was previously 80 acres of largely undeveloped bush land, Lucille and Collin Bailie have developed a glamping site, The Escape.

“We knew we’d found ourselves a unique property and the luxury camping idea was the best way for us to share the magic of the location with people, generally from the two major markets of Sydney and Canberra,” Ms Bailie says.

The NSW South Coast location has all the key attributes of traditional camping from a campfire to natural surrounds, but what separates the experience is the contemporary and comfortable facilities.

“One of the reasons the glamping concept is so popular is because many of our guests are time poor and don’t have the equipment to create their own traditional camping experience,” Ms Bailie says.

“Essentially 100 per cent of the effort is made by us as managers to create the experience, and the guests are left to enjoy it.”

As well as offering on-site restaurant quality dining among the state and national forest surrounds, guests are invited to partake in kayaking, fishing, swimming and bushwalking.

“The Clyde River, one of the cleanest waterways in Eastern Australia, is the key natural feature of the property and guest experience,” Ms Bailie says.

“A perfect escape could involve doing nothing more then sleeping in a luxury tent, waking up to the view over the Clyde, espresso coffee and restaurant quality food, or, guests can walk up Pigeon House Mountain, kayak down the Clyde or a take a trip to the local beaches.”

Cameron Arnold launched his glamping business Flash Camp at the 2013/2104 Byron Bay Falls Festival.

“I read an article in an inflight magazine about The Pop-Up Hotel offering boutique camping at festivals and events in the UK,” he says.

With over 30 years experience in the accommodation industry, Mr Arnold saw potential for a similar service in Australia.

“Having connections with festivals in Australia and discussing this option for them, we commenced operating.”

The 52 glamping tents at the festival gave guests a comfortable sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of the busy music festival.

Services of Flash Camp include exclusive use of the cleaned toilets and showers, phone chargers, an on-site cafe and bar plus an in-house masseuse, hairdresser and makeup artists.

Targeted at festival-goers who have outgrown or are no longer interested in traditional camping, Flash Camp has been an instant success.

“We doubled our offering to 120 tents at Splendour in the Grass six months later and are now offering the experience at other festivals, corporate events and weddings,” Mr Arnold says.

At the 2014 NSW Tourism awards, Flash Camp was awarded silver in the category of New Tourism Development and bronze in Unique Accommodation.

Stephanie Pajic is the co-founder and director of Homecamp, a glamping pop-up business she runs with her partner Doron Francis.

“I think there are a lot of people out there that like the idea of camping and enjoying nature but either don’t want to ‘rough it’ or maybe just don’t have the right gear to do it,” Ms Pajic says.

“Hotels certainly have their place, but there’s nothing quite like sitting around a beautiful campfire under the stars, then waking up to the birds and sounds of the bush in the morning and stepping out straight into nature.”

Many of Homecamp’s clients are wedding parties seeking a memorable and convenient setting for their big day.

“One of the most common reasons people choose glamping accommodation for their wedding is to keep all of the guests in the same place which adds a true sense of community and keeps the celebrations going for longer,” Ms Pajic says.

“Most weddings these days also have a ‘day after’ celebration, so having all the guests together on-site makes this even easier.”

For one of the company’s largest scale events, Homecamp was able to host 80 guests in 20 fully furnished tents on a client’s property.

Homecamp also operates an online store selling their own range of canvas bell tents and quality camp goods.

“We had owned a bell tent for a number of years that we always got great feedback on, but they were not easy to get hold of as we imported ours from Europe,” Ms Pajic says.

Upon realising the gap in the market, the couple set out to design their own range for Australian consumers.

“We spent a lot of time researching various manufacturers before we settled on our current design which is super durable and we feel the only bell tent available that is really built for Australia’s extreme and varied weather conditions.”

Previously the owner of a traditional camping ground, Andrew Daff has recently rebranded his Port Stephens business as a glamping site.

“Thou Walla Sunset Retreat’s beautiful location is incredibly unique environmentally, culturally and historically, particularly to the local Worimi people,” Mr Daff says.

“After considerable research, test marketing and engineering research, we decided that glamping was the perfect offering for the location and the market.”

The soon to close Soldiers Point Holiday Park is largely being used in peak holiday seasons only, with glamping able to better cater for guests outside these periods.

“We can heat and cool effectively, which allows for a year-round experience,” Mr Daff says.

“This is an adults-only glamping experience, with luxurious king beds and other furnishings, television, electric fireplace, refrigerator, wardrobe and a full ensuite with shower, vanity and eco-friendly self-composting toilet.”

The rebranded Thou Walla Sunset Retreat will officially launch later this year with 10 glamping tents on-site.