Sutton (Canada) (AFP)

From the wicker trunk under the tent, Céline Bossanne eradicates two wine glasses: "It's the French touch!", Jokes the co-founder of the Huttopia group which exports to North America the concept of glamping (camping comfort ) French-style.

Crockery, mini-fridge, electric lights, mattresses and bedding comforts ... There is "all that is necessary to camp comfortably, but always in the simplicity", summarizes the forty-year-old, owner of this company realizing 55 million euros of annual turnover.

On 65 hectares of boreal forest, on the slope of a mountain of Appalachians (southern Canada), 80 tents made in France and equipped with the French are scattered between the trees, in the shade of the canopy. The most luxurious, at 140 Canadian dollars (95 euros) at night, even have a bathroom.

The concept is a hit at 1:30 of the Quebec metropolis Montreal. The outdoor establishment is regularly full this summer, surfing in the fashion of "glamping", a contraction of "camping" and "glamor".

Glamping can "find the true spirit of camping (...), which is sleeping in nature, but it brings a little extra: it's comfort," says Céline Bossanne.

Huttopia did not invent this concept of cozy nest in the wilderness. Inherited from Asian and African lodges, glamping is flourishing in many countries. But the French company has popularized it in Eastern Canada, first by importing more than 500 tents ready to camp since 2008 in Quebec's natural parks (Sépaq), and then by launching directly on the market in North America.

- French signature -

The trapper, the Canadian, the Bonaventure ... each tent is made in Dunkirk (northern France) by the company Cabanon, according to plans designed by Huttopia who also comes from France the equipment that equips them.

The "French touch" is played to the full, from the accent of a large part of the staff to the menu of the restaurant (especially pancakes) and entertainment, including a festive weekend to celebrate July 14, tricolor garlands to support.

This signature blue-white-red, North American customers love, ensures Céline Bossanne.

By founding Huttopia in 1999, she and her husband Philippe wanted to make war on mobile homes that became the darling of French campsites. Twenty years later, their company operates in France 51 campsites of fully equipped tents in nature and opened in 2015 a first field abroad, in Sutton, in southern Quebec.

"When we did our market research, this notion of + resort +, a vast layout with lots of space, nature and services, did not exist" in Canada and the United States. "We thought that it could only walk in these countries of + outdoor +," says Bossanne.

The glamping market is experiencing strong growth in the United States and Canada, around 15% per year, under the impetus of "millenials". In 2024, the annual demand is expected to reach one billion dollars in the United States, according to Arizton, while the Americans spent a total of 167 billion in camping in 2017 in equipment, vehicles and overnight stays.

Faced with rustic campsites in natural parks and those dedicated to large caravans and huge campervans, Huttopia has positioned itself in North America on a niche: nature accessible to families without logistical headaches.

- "Tents for Indians" -

After Sutton in Quebec, the French group attacked the United States market, opening campsites in 2018 in New Hampshire and in 2019 in Maine, on the Northeastern American coast, as well as a site in the United States. Low this year.

Always investing with its own funds, the family business acquired a large wooded lot in Los Angeles, moved to New York state and eyeing Oregon. Developments are also underway in China.

Around a bonfire lit in front of their big tent, the Howard family does not hide its pleasure. "Before we had children, we pitched our tent in the forest, but now it's easier with the tents ready to camp from here," says Ben Howard, alongside Stephanie and their two toddlers.

Not far from them, Marc Dubreuil pulls a small cart overflowing with personal effects, while his two children gallop through the path that leads to their tent.

"I hate camping because it's installation, when it's all set-up: we arrive with a bit of food and clothes, and bingo!" Says the boss of a marketing company. Montreal.

Beyond the urban public, Huttopia has other more unexpected clients: the Crees, an indigenous people from northern Quebec, have commissioned them to design fifty or so tents inspired by their traditional teepees, in order to get into the city. ecotourism.

Returning from these wild territories on the shores of Hudson Bay, 1,300 km north of Montreal, Céline Bossanne rejoices: "I never thought of building tents for the Indians!"

© 2019 AFP