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“It is hard to imagine a tourism sector better positioned to face and adapt to the pandemic,” Dan Yates says without batting an eyelid.
He talks, of course, about camping.
The Briton is the founder of Pitchup.com, the international platform for booking outdoor accommodation, an increasingly popular vacation modality that, after months of isolation, has become practically a vital necessity for many.
And as the businessman underlines: "Camping is also affordable both for the traveler's pocket and for the
environment
".
Dan Yates (Barnstaple, 1976) was born and raised in the holiday complex run by his parents in Devon, in the south-west of the United Kingdom.
From a young age he learned the ins and outs of the business and
the love for camping.
One thing didn't add up.
This form of tourism added the largest number of overnight stays in his country and, however, was neglected on the internet.
With his experience as a director of lastminute.com, the travel website that participated in the dotcom bubble in the late 1990s, Yates created Pitchup.com.
Today, the platform allows you to search among more than
5,000
open-air accommodations, from family campsites to
treehouses
, tipis or
glampling
tents (glamor + camping) in 109 different countries.
The formulas do not stop growing.
One of the latest is the
farms converted into open-air accommodation
that have expanded exponentially in the United Kingdom during the pandemic: estates with tracts of unused land that have been transformed into the bucolic refuge of travelers eager to
flee the city
.
"Our mission is to make finding and booking this type of vacation incredibly easy," says Yates.
- What trends are driving the sector?
- The popularity of camping and
glamping
soared after the end of the confinement, with an all-
time record
of 6,500 online reservations in a single day.
In contrast, the large hotel and apartment online travel agencies recorded annual declines of around 50%.
And this trend continues, as reservations on the platform have increased by 464% so far this year compared to the same period last year.
We believe that the heightened interest in outdoor vacations during the pandemic has set in motion
a legacy that will benefit the industry
for years to come.
According to Yates, the tent is still the queen of this type of accommodation, although
glamping has
been going strong.
" High-end
glamping
has also become a
substitute for boutique hotels
- particularly for those with young children - as it offers
the same level of luxury
while bringing people closer to nature."
The competition is fierce.
"
Freestanding bathtubs
, more technology and more innovative structures (such as tree houses and geodesic domes..." lists the expert. "The high expectations of customers continue to drive innovation". With this offer there is no longer an excuse not to go out into the field and get your boots stained with mud.
- What would you say to the traveler who does not see himself going on vacation to a camping site?
- There is so much variety in terms of types of pitches and accommodation, that it is impossible to hate everything!
Maybe you don't like the idea of sleeping on the floor: there are luxury tents and yurts with double beds.
Maybe you don't like the idea of being off the grid and without a signal: many campsites now offer Wi-Fi and a place to charge your devices.
Perhaps the idea of cooking over a campfire terrifies you: there are many campsites with restaurants or pubs, and some even have the possibility of
ordering food at home
.
Perhaps you're worried about the cold: we have sites with central heating, wood burning stoves and double glazing, not to mention warm Jacuzzis!
It's sustainable (so much greener than a hotel stay), it has huge mental and physical health benefits, it's affordable, and it's wonderfully nostalgic.
You just have to find the right site for you.
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