Happy campers exercising 'tent-up' demand

With consumption upgrades and the revival of the tourism industry in China, a new type of camping is gaining ground as a leisure business, attracting an increasing number of tourists.

Different from traditional camping options, which often involve meticulous packing of tents, ropes, sleeping bags, binoculars, telescopes, foods and beverages, a new style of high-end camping provides complete facilities and offers a luggage-free experience.

"In addition to camping necessities, the camping base offers all things that you can possibly think of－earplugs, air mattresses, blankets, mosquito repellent, toiletries, meats, barbecue facilities, beer and ice buckets. It is just so convenient. I can just tell my friends: 'Let's go camping and head off with no preparation,' said Beijing's Meng Ke, who has experienced the new type of camping.

Xiaohongshu, a lifestyle platform, said that during Dragon Boat Festival that fell between June 12 and June 14 this year, online searches for "camping" surged 400 percent year-on-year, and Beijing, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hangzhou of Zhejiang province topped the list of camping search destinations.

Xiaohongshu added that camping in suburbs involves short driving times, satisfies people's desire to be close to nature and is thus gaining in popularity.

"Many camping enterprises were at full capacity during the Dragon Boat Festival. They said that it was hard to get a tent without a reservation," said an official from Xiaohongshu.

Zhu Xian, founder of new-type camping Dare Glamping, said: "Although our campsite in Daxing, Beijing, just opened, a couple of days before the festival, the tents were all booked out. On June 14, a total of 60 tents filled up the over 7,000-square meter campsite."

"Glamping" is a combination of glamor and camping－essentially luxury camping.

And people's enthusiasm about camping started long before this year's Dragon Boat Festival. In April 2020, when the contagion in China was being brought under control, camping went viral online.

Data from Xiaohongshu showed that in 2020, camping-related posts increased 271 percent year-on-year, while views of such posts surged 170 percent year-on-year. Between Jan 1 and May 31 this year, camping searches were 428 percent higher than that in the same period of last year. With the popularity of camping, "camping gear", "campsite recommendations" and "camping photos "become hot topics on Xiaohongshu.

According to Qichacha, a Suzhou, Jiangsu province-based company that tracks business registrations, in 2020, camping-related enterprises soared by 8,521, or 227 percent year-on-year. This year, by June 10, there were 7,854 newly registered camping-related enterprises.

Chen Xiquan, an official from the marketing department of Hi King Wild Luxury Camp, has been witness to the surging popularity of camping: "Currently, almost every weekend, our campsites are booked out. However, last summer, the reservation ratio of our campsite in Xi'an was only 70 percent."

Lyu Ning, deputy dean of the School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University (BISU), said: "Currently, camping, especially new-type camping, which is luggage-free, is very popular among young consumers. The new-type, high-end camping is expected to become an important, rising form of leisure activity in the suburbs."

Lyu said the popularity of camping is partly because the pandemic has added to people's preference for open spaces. Besides, young people, who are a major consumption group, are the main users of social media and content platforms.

"When camping becomes trendy on these platforms, they tend to follow the trend, and also share their related experiences, further promoting the spread of the trend," she added.

Although camping in the domestic market has been growing rapidly, compared with the United States and Europe, the sector is still at an early stage. Data from the School of Tourism Sciences of BISU showed that currently, the ratio of people who take annual car trips in China, which is closely related with camping, has reached 68 percent－lower than that of the US and Europe, which is around 88 percent.

Meanwhile, the average time spent camping among Europeans each year is between 13 days and 14 days, while that of domestic campers is only three days.

"Judging from the data, China's camping industry has great room for development, and industry players should be optimistic," Lyu said.

Zhu shared his story of establishing Dare Glamping. At the beginning of 2020, when COVID-19 broke out worldwide, Zhu, then a senior executive at an outbound travel company, suddenly had no business.

"As there was no work to do, I suggested that we just take a break. During six months of rest, starting from Beijing, I took my wife and son on a road trip. We went to the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the furthest place we traveled to was Hoh Xil, Qinghai province," Zhu said.

"We encountered a lot of beautiful scenery, including prairies, deserts and snow-capped mountains. However, we could only appreciate the scenery from our car. When we got out of the car, the sun was too hot and we had no place to sit."

That was when Zhu began to purchase tents, folding tables and chairs, and pots for cooking.

"When we bought those things, our sense of well-being increased a lot. I found that there was finally a place for us to hang out and enjoy the scenery, and my son could run a little bit and come back to the tent to fetch some food and drinks. With the happiness level increased, I bought more things, and the things I bought became more expensive," he said.

One day, Zhu made a list of all of the camping-related things he bought. After calculations, there were over 230 items worth around 100,000 yuan ($15,460).

"One thing I noticed was how many times should we camp to make these things worth the price; and every time we camp, it takes great time and effort to haul over 230 items to sites and back. That was when I thought of starting a camping company, which offers all camping-related items and hires professionals to organize the items and offer services. Customers need to take nothing. They just need to take their families to come here," Zhu said.

According to Zhu, they rent the land used for camping from village governments concerned. A consumer may have to fork out up to 800 yuan for the basic package per night. The cost includes all items related to camping, an afternoon tea, a barbecue dinner and a breakfast.

Zhu chose the first campsite for his firm in Sanya, Hainan province. Since Dec 7, Dare Glamping kicked off its new-type camping services, it had been operating at full capacity.

"We didn't take one day off. The steady stream of customers forced us to run the business around the clock. They shared their experiences online on such content platforms as Xiaohongshu, and word-of-mouth generated even more customers," Zhu said.

Within six months, Dare Glamping's campsites expanded to nearly 20, and it also opened a camping-themed restaurant in the 798 Art Zone in Beijing, so that camping lovers can enjoy themselves in the city.

Lyu said: "People long for open spaces and to be close to nature, and they share their camping experiences on content platforms. For example, there is copious note-sharing about camping on Xiaohongshu, and communication between users forms an online community, contributing to consumers' better understanding of camping culture. The sharing is crucial to the promotion and resumption of the whole tourism industry."

To better develop new-type camping, Chao Chenglin, a marketing expert, suggested camping enterprises should pay attention to their services based on consumer safety and comfort levels, as well as special characteristics of scenic spots.

"For consumers, safety, comfort level and user experience are the three prerequisites for travel, which raise the bar for company operations and services," Chao added.