WASHINGTON — From RV hookups to luxury tents with indoor plumbing, the “outdoor hospitality” category of lodging brands is diverse and growing.
Often corralled as part of the alternative accommodations segment, brands such as Under Canvas, Autocamp, Loge, Collective Retreats and Kampgrounds of America share a common appeal to travelers looking for outdoor experiences. But as the segment matures, it is diversifying both in products and in the investors backing the brands, said speakers on a panel at the recent International Society of Hospitality Consultants Annual Conference.
“It’s a quiet revolution,” said Todd Wynne-Parry, a managing director at advisory firm Horwath HTL who focuses on the outdoor hospitality sector.
He underscored that while the idea of sleeping in the great outdoors is nothing new, outdoor hospitality as a segment is booming now as travelers seek more authentic stay experiences post-pandemic, and a little fresh air doesn’t hurt either.
A Stay For Every Price Point
The major shift in the outdoor hospitality segment in recent years has been its diversification on price points.
Take KOA, which has traditionally been a lower-cost camping brand in the U.S. and Canada, offering RV hookups, tent sites, cabins and more. Now KOA offers a high-end glamping brand, Terramor, with one site open so far in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The company is growing its accommodations products by adding Terramor locations, “because of the average daily rate you can get on the accommodations side and the continued interest in glamping,” said KOA SVP of Strategy Whitney Scott.
That interest is definitely growing on the luxury side, said Collective Retreats founder and CEO Peter Mack. The “luxury outdoor hospitality” accommodations — “we shy away from the word ‘glamping,’” Mack said — fetch ADRs between $500 to $600 per night in a combination of tents, tented structures and cabin-style tiny houses. The brand has been around since 2015.
Mack said it’s the brand’s “intensive [food and beverage], wellness, experiences and amenities program, and concierge platform” that take it to the next level. Yoga, wine tours, horseback riding and fly-fishing adventures are typical offerings at the brand’s five open locations in the U.S., along with gourmet food and cocktails.
In 2021, Collective Retreats announced it had completed a $23 million Series C funding round led by investment firm Fireside Investments. Its target demographic are travelers who otherwise might consider a resort, Mack said.
“There’s a lot of traditional luxury resort business models that just don’t work great anymore,” he said. “We’re seeking market share and are able to take it from that high-end resort market.”
But there’s also plenty of opportunity in the middle of the outdoor hospitality spectrum, said Cale Genenbacher, CEO and co-founder of Loge. His company has seven properties open in the U.S., 11 in development and another eight under contract. The brand’s play is typically to reposition tired buildings in locations adjacent to outdoor adventure.
“We’ve converted a hospital to a lodge, done a bunch of motel and hotel repositionings, and now we’re doing some adaptive-reuse projects,” Genenbacher said. Camping and RV sites are part of the mix, but hotels, amenities and experiences are the focus.
“We’re affordable luxury,” he said. “We’re stealing from state parks and mom-and-pop operations, along with select-service hotels in the area. We consider ourselves about three- to three-and-a-half-stars, and more people are trading down into our price point than trading up.”
Loge licenses its brand and also buys properties directly. On the partnership side, Loge stocks its rooms and properties with products from known outdoor brands such as Kammok hammocks, Yeti coolers and Rumpl blankets, all available for purchase.
The Experience Factor
The panelists agreed that experiences are driving the popularity of the segment because that's at the core of any outdoor-focused trip, whether a simple weekend camping trip away or a guided fly-fishing experience.
“Our programming is about the local area,” Scott said, referring to Terramor. “Naturalists take guests on walking tours, which are always free. We have a bee experience. We have a tour operator who takes guests oyster picking, then they have a champagne and oysters night. It’s about connecting the guest with that local experience and bringing as much to the property as possible.”
That type of experiential programming is driving group business as well, Genenbacher and Mack said.
“The group and event space is really exciting in outdoor hospitality now,” Mack said. Collective Retreats offers wellness and yoga retreats for corporate outings and other private group events centered around the amenities at the locations.
“We’re finding that even traditional companies are seeing value in doing something experiential and connected to nature as part of a group program, and traditional hotels just don’t offer that,” he said. “COVID helped ignite that significantly.”
Employee Care
The unique nature of the luxury outdoor lodging segment helps attract and retain a committed workforce, speakers said.
KOA offers a work-camping program for people to work for the site and live there, and it offers a traveling program for employees as well.
Loge also offers a work exchange program, whereby employees can spend one season at a ski location, for example, then swap and spend the next season in a surf location.
“We focus on employee retention through lifestyle,” Genenbacher said. “We offer ski passes and gear because our goal is that our guests are served by our guests. Letting our employees retain their lifestyle benefits is a big goal.”
Both KOA and Loge offer employee housing as well. Genenbacher said he knew early on in Loge’s development that the types of markets it was targeting wouldn’t necessarily offer a lot of affordable employee housing, so “everywhere we buy now, we set aside rooms for employee housing.”
Loge general managers receive equity in the company after one year of employment.
“We give shares to [incentivize] people to act and think and walk and talk like owners,” he said. “These folks stay.”