The number of glamping sites will grow by 30% per year

State support and a quick payback are predicted to ensure an increase in the number of glampings by 30% per year. The fashion for the format now allows such objects to keep the cost of accommodation high: the average price of a night in them is often twice as high as in hotels. But this situation may turn out to be short-lived – some projects may be closed due to the emergence of new glamping sites, which will lead to disappointment of investors in this segment.

The volume of glamping supply in Russia in 2023-2024 will grow by about 30% per year, predicts the Commonwealth Partnership (CMWP). Now there are 416 such facilities operating in the country: thus, in two years their number may reach 703 facilities. According to the Russian Glamping Association, there are currently 386 projects in the country, and another 50-80 projects are planned to be launched by August. In August last year, it was about 340 operating glampings. The association also expects a further increase in the number of objects.

CMWP considers government support measures to be the main factor in the growth of the glamping market. During the SPIEF, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed the idea to allocate an additional 11 billion rubles in the next two years. for the construction of 470 modular hotels in the country, including glampings. Previously allocated 4.2 billion rubles. went to the implementation of 174 projects.

Modular objects are non-capital structures, explains Marina Nenarokova, head of the Natural Code company. Glampings can also count on receiving subsidies if they are ready to register land plots in accordance with the requirements and subsequently register as hotels, she explains.

Ms. Nenarokova calls the main point of growth for the glamping segment the good payback of such facilities. The cost of glamping of 10-15 units, according to her, is now 100-300 million rubles. with an average payback period of seven to eight years. Investments in the construction of capital hotels are much higher, and the payback period reaches 25 years.

In addition to relatively small investments, the marginality of glampings is ensured by high accommodation prices. According to CMWP estimates, the average cost of a night in them is 8 thousand rubles. The highest figure in Primorye is 10.4 thousand rubles. per night, the lowest in the Perm region – 6.2 thousand rubles. Sergey Romashkin, CEO of the Dolphin tour operator, believes that a night in a hotel in Russia in the summer season costs 4,000-5,000 rubles. In his opinion, “the glamping market is seriously overheated” due to the fashion for this type of accommodation. Marina Nenarokova believes that with the saturation of the market, the cost of living in glampings will decrease in the foreseeable future, which will lead to the closure of many overestimated projects.

According to CMWP estimates, there are now glampings in 63 regions of the country. Most of them are in the Moscow (57 objects), Leningrad (43) regions and the Krasnodar Territory (32). In total, these three regions accumulate 32% of the total number of such accommodation facilities. Sakhalin, Yakutia, North Ossetia and other regions are working on the same project. More than 20 regions have no glampings at all. Such facilities are often built where it is convenient for the investor, and not where the tourist needs, Mr. Romashkin notes.

Polina Afanasyeva, Director of the CMWP Research and Analytics Department, notes that the growth of glamping sites is determined by increased demand due to the novelty of the format. With its normalization, new facilities will be opened more often in natural areas where capital construction is limited, and not near megacities, as it is now. Stabilization of the market can help strengthen the positions of network players on it. Now, according to CMWP estimates, 9% of glampings are consolidated in their hands, in 2021 the figure was lower – 7%.

The Glamping Association also expects a gradual increase in the share of year-round facilities: now they form 60% of the supply against 53% a year earlier. But Roman Yeremyan, deputy chairman of the Union of Tourism and Hospitality, is convinced that serious investors will eventually become disillusioned with the glamping format. “There is not a single country in the world where its spread would contribute to the development of tourism,” he says. The expert recalls that the business also refused to invest in hostels at one time.

Alexandra Mertsalova