NASHVILLE, Tennessee — As travel demand patterns shift across the U.S., glamping company AutoCamp is leveraging its "bread-and-butter" business: corporate groups.
It's not the typical boardroom style corporate event. At AutoCamp properties, it's all experiential.
Vinny Cuneo, vice president of revenue management at AutoCamp, said during a video interview with Hotel News Now in August at the 2023 Hotel Data Conference that his team partners with local experience providers to curate special activities on the property and off.
"That's really what gets groups to come out to AutoCamp," he said. "We have really strong relationships with experience providers in all of our markets. We actually have a platform on our website, where even our leisure guests can go and book those, and they're hosted and managed through local relationships. We try to be the best partner we can in the communities we operate in and don't try to duplicate anything that exists there."
He said there's been an increase in corporate demand as leisure tapers off, and group size and length of stay are comparable to 2022.
"The one thing we are noticing is a much shorter booking window, but we are definitely continuing to see a lot of interest [in corporate retreats], especially from companies that have a dispersed workforce," he said.
The AutoCamp team is still projecting strong weekend demand until late fall, especially at its East Coast properties where travelers are out to see the leaves change.
"We try to focus on giving people the experience to really choose how they want explore the outdoors, either being outside by themselves or meeting in the communal space like in our clubhouses," he said.
AutoCamp has six properties open and operating and one under its Field Station brand.
Properties in the pipeline expected to open by the end of 2024 include three additional AutoCamps, including one in Asheville, North Carolina; another in Austin, Texas; and one by Sequoia National Park in California. AutoCamp also plans to open a Field Station in Joshua Tree, California.
For more from HNN's interview with AutoCamp's Vinny Cuneo, watch the video above.