Glamping in France : a hight potential niche market offering the tourists a luxury but nature-based and renewed hospitality experience

Glamping has been developing since a few years at super speed in France to answer to the evolving needs of tourists. Tourists are changing their travel habits, they are increasingly interested in holidays in great natural spot, away from crowds and respectful of the environment. The augmentation of stressful events such as covid-19 recently has accelerated this tendency of escaping daily life by spending several days in unusual accommodations, called glamping.
In 2020 and 2021, hotels have been neglected by French tourists and are going through a rough time with the absence of international tourists. Glamping managers have seen the opportunity to develop their products to attract the previous hotels’ clients. By highlighting notions of sustainability, isolation, comfort, luxury and close link to nature, glamping has managed to live through crisis. Today, glamping remains an unclear concept for many people, but it deserves more attention.
The aim of this study is to understand how this new hospitality concept manages to attract customers who previously stayed in hotels and whether glamping can be considered sustainable or not in a context of growing environmental issues. This master dissertation also aims at helping glamping managers understand better their customers and design a product that truly matches their needs and expectations. It gives perspective for the next years to come about the future of hospitality accommodations and the high growth potential of glamping.