With the introduction of new regulations, the "barbaric growth" camping industry is tending to standardize development. Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and other 13 departments recently jointly studied and formulated the "Opinions on Standardizing and Guiding the Development of Tent Campsites (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), Beijing Business Daily reporters interviewed a number of Beijing camping enterprises for the first time, the person in charge of the relevant camping enterprises said that the tent site selection, personnel registration, fire safety and other safety management systems will be improved and strengthened. The previous explosion of the camping industry has also caused a lot of chaos, and even caused safety incidents. Up to now, many places have successively introduced new regulations for camping, and the standardized management of the camping industry has become an industry trend. The emergence of new regulations also makes the camping track tend to develop in quality, which in turn benefits the head enterprises.
Beijing to clean up illegal "wild camping sites"
Thirteen departments, including the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the Capital Civilization Office, recently jointly studied and formulated the Opinions, which set requirements for the safety precautions of tent campsites from 13 aspects, including tent campsite site selection, safety management system, personnel registration, fire safety, extreme weather response, and insurance services.
In response to the new "Opinions", the reporter of Beijing Business Daily also asked a number of campsite operating enterprises, among which the relevant person in charge of a camping enterprise in Beijing said that the regulations such as fire protection and response to extreme weather specified in the new "Opinions" have always had countermeasures and related preparations for campsites. In order to establish and improve the reservation system and strictly implement the measures of limited reservation peak shift, campsites currently require tourists to provide their names and make reservations in advance.
In addition, the relevant staff of the Suno Stance tent camp said that because the "Opinions" have just been released, it still needs time to digest, in addition, the camp has only opened on May Day, and some management systems are still gradually improving.
The "Opinions" also make it clear that tent camping activities should be carried out in areas that are not officially developed and open to receive tourists, lack security guarantees, and illegal operation of private "scenic spots", and tent campsites set up in prohibited areas and tent campsites that do not have safe use conditions should be cleaned up and patrols and guards strengthened.
In this regard, Zhu Xian, founder and CEO of Hot Wilderness, believes that "Beijing's new camping regulations can on the one hand remove some non-compliant enterprises from the market, and on the other hand, force enterprises to rectify compliance by explicitly prohibiting and eliminating them, giving the industry a more benign development environment."
Liao Hongbin, president of the Beijing Caravan Camping Self-driving Tourism Association, said, "People's yearning for the outdoors has promoted the development of the camping industry, but too fast development will also cause problems. Last year, a series of camping accidents occurred, involving safety, environmental protection and other issues, and now it is necessary to bring the camping industry into a more standardized and orderly management normal."
Many places restrict the development of the camping industry
In addition to Beijing, many places across the country have previously issued or plan to release new regulations for the camping industry.
It is understood that on November 2022, 11, the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued the "Implementation Plan for the Standardized Management and Improvement of Tent Campsites in the City", which standardizes the main body, setting, management, and behavior of the camp. On May 30, 2023, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued a public notice on the "Shanghai Tent Campsite Management Guidelines (Draft for Comments)", which includes 5 articles on the scope of application of Shanghai tent campsites, site selection, site operation, management responsibility, safety management, platform responsibility, ecological environmental protection, and industrial integration.
"In the past three years, the popularity of the camping industry has attracted many businesses who are not in the industry to try to squeeze into the track, many of which are irregular and unprofessional campsites, which have great safety risks. Most camping tourists are not professional campers and are not familiar with the construction requirements of campsites, so there are many risks in seemingly 'niche, secluded and pristine' Internet celebrity campsites. Industry insiders said. It is reported that on August 2022, 8, Longcaogou, Longmenshan Town, Pengzhou, Sichuan, an undeveloped "net red wild campsite", was killed and 13 injured by flash floods.
After the "Longgrougou" accident, the compliance and safety issues of camping have been pushed into the public eye, and new regulations have been issued in various places for camping chaos.
The successive introduction of new regulations on camping in various places has made the standardized management of the camping industry an industry trend. "The new regulations have clear regulations for the camping industry, which is good for the sustainable and healthy development of the industry." Zhu Xian said. The new camping regulations in Beijing and elsewhere also give a law to rectify the camping chaos, and "the new regulations that have been issued also have a guiding effect on camping management in other regions."
Leading companies are expected to be positive
The successive introduction of new camping regulations is also conducive to the development of leading enterprises in the camping industry. Liao Hongbin believes that compared with small and medium-sized enterprises, leading enterprises have more experience in the operation and promotion of campsites, so they will be more competitive when promoting the replication of successful cases and moving closer to the capital market.
The domestic camping market has shown extensive development before, large and small businesses seize the opportunity of camping to make money, mud and sand, and the camping market is also wrapped up in a "roll" to a deformed development path. The passage of the new camping regulations draws the "runway" boundary for camping enterprises, kicks the "chaotic" enterprises out of the track, ensures the normal development of camping enterprises, and also facilitates the replication and promotion of excellent camping cases by leading enterprises. "Leading enterprises have played an important role in summarizing and driving the camping industry, and small and medium-sized camps can learn from their successful experience or develop through joining." Liao Hongbin said.
"The new camping regulations especially regulate 'private' camping sites, and some 'wild camping sites' with potential safety hazards will be cleaned up in the future." Previously, the level of enterprises in the camping industry was uneven, and the introduction of new regulations also made the entire camping industry tend to develop quality. The relevant person in charge of a camping head enterprise said.
"After the non-compliant campsites are cleaned up, it also gives the head enterprises of compliant camping more room for development," Zhu Xian said, adding that the camping industry should not be limited to "enclosing a piece of land". "Outdoor space is just a scene, camping is only a part of the fashion outdoor industry, for the head enterprises, can continue to provide consumers in the outdoor space with good products can have a future." Zhu Xian said.
In his opinion, the domestic camping industry still has a long way to go. "At present, there are still very few consumers involved, most of the outdoor leisure activities are just the needs of urban people to relieve stress and relax, parent-child walking, and the fashion outdoor field is a consumption upgrade." At present, what leading companies need to do is to continue to explore various types of venues and continue to iterate products. We will also work with large-scale scenic spots and municipal parks to provide more consumers with a better outdoor living experience. ”
Beijing Business Daily reporter Guan Zichen Intern reporter Niu Qingyan/Wen Guan Zichen/Photo