Camping, that old actor in the accommodation sector, reclaims their attention and returns with strength to stay. From the hotel factory’s point of view, we would like to emphasize its debut and analyze the current status of this growing accommodation model.

The origins of the concept goes back to prehistory. By then, the search of food forced the human to move from one place to another to survive, having small tents easy to transport, made with animal skins, large leaves fallen from the trees and sticks.

Nowadays this accommodation sector continues to represent, although in improved version, the ancient nomadic practice. Even though survival is not the reason, today, many people decide to move from one place to another without a permanent residence thanks to the continuous growth of the campsites. This accommodation modality is not only useful for these groups of people with a nomadic mentality, but it also has happened to become a holiday or residencial option for other segments.

Moreover, a lot of current campings have integrated and recovered some historical types of lodging as the traditional tents, yurts, tepees…

Yurtas

Tipis

The growth of this accommodation sector in Spain is reflected in the following graphics, we could observe a positive tendency, both in number of travelers and in overnight stays in the last 18 years. Furthermore, according INE, with respect to 2016, campings in Spain has accounted a 6,7% increase in overnight stays, an increment of 4,2% in the number of plots offered and a 3,4% rise in the weekend occupation. A data of special interest, contributed by the “Asociación Española de la Industria y Comercio del Caravaning”, is the increase of the motorhome registrations, which has reached up to 40%, in the last two years.

The positive evolution of this sector in the recent years is not only reflected in the growth of the variables but also in the birth of new camp specialities. All these specialities arise as a request of the campers who are looking for new experiences. For example, nowadays, campers stop to settle for a simple 3* campsite and look for a more luxurious experience, hence the birth of glamping, a combination of “glamour” and “camping”. Other example of new specialities could be the thematic campsites, highlighting among others, those with waterparks, where the entertainment and attractions are mixed with the accommodation experience itself.

The worldwide trend of campsites continues to grow. Spain currently counts with 513 campings and there is still a long way to go compared to other European destinations such as France, Germany and Netherlands that reach 2.785, 1.153 y 1.115 campings respectively. We foresee that the trend of this sector will continue to grow in the upcoming years and Spain will be able to offer a differential offer and be among the main destinations chosen by the campers.

Leaving aside the evolution of the campings, in the next post some knowledges and conclusions of this sector will be explained after having made a desktop research and having visited “in situ” different campsites in Spain.