TL;DR: What It Takes to Stay Competitive in the Glamping Industry
Glamping is growing, and so is the competition. At Glamping Show Americas 2026, the message was clear: simply adding a glamping unit is no longer enough. Operators are paying closer attention to guest experience, brand differentiation, revenue performance, project costs, and accommodations that stand out. AI is also beginning to change how travelers discover and evaluate properties. The opportunity remains strong, but the bar for competing in the glamping industry is getting higher.
What We Learned at Glamping Show Americas 2026
The glamping industry isn’t standing still. Guest expectations are rising, competition is increasing, technology is changing how travelers discover properties, and operators are paying closer attention to what actually drives revenue.
That shift was evident throughout Glamping Show Americas 2026. Across sessions covering guest experience, brand building, accommodation development, financing, revenue performance and AI, the conversation wasn’t simply about what’s new. It was increasingly about what works, what differentiates a property and what operators need to consider as the industry matures.
Speaker & source note: This recap combines PlainsCraft’s session notes with presentation slides and the official Glamping Show Americas 2026 agenda/speaker roster. Ideas and proprietary data are attributed to the presenters or organizations that shared them.
For glamping operators, campground owners, developers, and hospitality investors, these were nine of the biggest takeaways from this year’s show.
1. Glamping Growth Is Becoming a Revenue Story
Industry growth projections remain strong. Fortune Business Insights values the global glamping market at approximately $4.07 billion in 2026 and projects it to reach $9.15 billion by 2034, representing a 10.67% compound annual growth rate.
But market-size projections only tell part of the story. More interesting for operators was Campspot’s comparison of properties already operating glamping inventory with traditional RV and seasonal/long-term parks.
According to data presented by Campspot at the show, glamping resorts generated more than four times the average daily rate (ADR) of RV and seasonal/long-term parks without glamping inventory. Revenue per available site (RevPAS) for glamping resorts also increased approximately 10% year over year, while the comparison group declined roughly 2%.
The takeaway isn’t that glamping automatically guarantees stronger returns. It is that the revenue potential is real—and as the industry matures, operators are getting better data to understand what that opportunity can look like.
The conversation is shifting from “Is there demand for glamping?” to “How do we turn that demand into a profitable, sustainable business?”
Source / session credit: Nic Gramstad, VP of Sales, Campspot – “The State of Glamping: Performance, Trends & Market Insights,” Glamping Show Americas 2026.
2. Guests Will Pay More, but Their Expectations Are Higher Too
The ability to charge a premium comes with an important tradeoff: guests expect a premium experience.
One point from the show was particularly telling: private in-suite bathrooms are increasingly becoming a baseline expectation rather than a premium amenity.
That is a significant change for an industry that grew partly from upgraded camping experiences. Today’s guest may still want canvas, nature, a campfire, and the feeling of getting away from it all. But that does not necessarily mean they want to sacrifice the comforts they expect from modern glamping accommodations—including climate control, a comfortable bed, and a private bathroom.
Wellness features were also identified as a fast-rising amenity category, while EV charging was positioned as part of the next wave of guest expectations.
Source / session credit: Nic Gramstad, Campspot. Amenity trends were presented as part of Campspot’s 2026 State of Glamping session.
For operators evaluating new accommodations, the question should not only be, “What structure will attract attention?” It should also be, “What experience will guests expect once they walk inside?”
3. Differentiation Starts Before the Guest Opens the Door
One of the most interesting themes we heard from multiple speakers was that the experience starts before a guest ever opens the door to their accommodation.
Derry Green, founder of Secret Garden Glamping, described the accommodation as only one part of a much larger guest journey. From discovery and booking to arrival, check-in and the journey through the property, operators have opportunities to shape the experience before the guest ever steps inside the unit. He also emphasized that amenities and features can be copied, while a distinctive brand and guest experience are much harder to replicate.
And he wasn’t the only one talking about it.
In total, three different speakers approached this idea from different angles.
Both Green and Janice Wilson of Menizei discussed intentionally separating guest parking from the accommodations. Wilson described having guests park at the front of the property, leave their vehicles behind, and begin their experience through the check-in process and journey to their room. Rather than driving directly to where they’ll sleep, guests physically transition away from everyday life and into the environment the property has created.
Travis Chambers of OutpostX approached the same idea from a design and shareability perspective. His presentation challenged operators to think about the guest’s reaction while designing the property:
- What will they film?
- What will they say?
- What makes the reveal worth sharing?
At OutpostX, the environment, architecture, activities, and even food contribute to an immersive world rather than relying on the room alone to create the experience.
Three speakers. Three different approaches. One very similar message: the experience shouldn’t begin when the guest opens the door.
That’s especially interesting when considering accommodations that already carry a strong sense of place or story.
A covered wagon, for example, gives an operator a story to build from—and the property doesn’t have to look like the Old West for it to work.
Imagine the guest arriving on your property as they leave their car behind and start down a path toward their stay. Maybe it winds through tall prairie grass, disappears beneath the trees, follows a creek or crosses an open field as weathered signs point the way. Lanterns begin appearing along the path. Somewhere ahead, there’s a fire crackling. Then, through the trees or across the landscape, they catch their first glimpse of a circle of covered wagons.
Suddenly, it doesn’t matter that an hour earlier they were driving down an interstate—or that the property isn’t in Wyoming, Montana, or the desert Southwest.
You’ve changed the setting.
From there, the story can become as simple or immersive as the property allows. A central fire pit becomes the gathering place. A walking trail becomes part of the journey. A creek, fishing pond, wooded path or open field becomes part of the adventure. Horseshoes, outdoor cooking, storytelling around the fire, a Gold Rush-inspired mining flume, or a few thoughtfully placed details can begin turning an ordinary piece of land into somewhere guests feel they’ve stepped into rather than simply checked into.
That’s one of the advantages of choosing an accommodation with a story already attached to it. You don’t need to own a Western property to create a Western experience. The wagon can become the anchor, while the arrival, landscape, activities, and details build the world around it.
By the time guests finally open the wagon door, they haven’t just arrived at their room. They’ve arrived somewhere.
And the same principle can apply to any distinctive glamping accommodation. Instead of asking only, “What unit should we add?” operators may also want to ask:
“What experience does this accommodation give us the opportunity to create?”
That’s an important distinction as glamping becomes more competitive. When everything else is comparable, the experience becomes the differentiator.
For developers selecting their next accommodation type, visual appeal, uniqueness and local market saturation deserve consideration alongside purchase price and square footage. But after hearing this message repeated throughout the show, we’d add one more question to the list:
What does this accommodation give us to build around?
NOT SURE WHAT THE EXPERIENCE LOOKS LIKE YET?
Every property is different—and that’s the point. There isn’t one formula for creating a memorable glamping experience. At PlainsCraft, we work with owners, developers and investors to think beyond where a covered wagon will sit and consider how it can become part of the larger guest journey.
Have a property in mind? Send us a note or give us a call. Tell us about the land, the guests you want to attract and what you’re trying to create. We can start there and explore what a covered wagon experience could look like on your property.
4. Shorter Glamping Stays Create Different Revenue Opportunities
Campspot’s data showed an interesting difference in how glamping guests use a property. Approximately 64% of glamping reservations were for one or two nights, compared with 48% of RV and seasonal/long-term reservations.
That doesn’t mean there are more glamping reservations than RV reservations. Instead, it suggests that short stays make up a larger share of glamping bookings. Combined with the higher average daily rates presented earlier, the data shows that shorter stays can still carry meaningful revenue potential—and create opportunities to generate additional revenue beyond the nightly rate.
Think about the difference between an experienced RVer pulling into a campground and a couple or family arriving for a two-night glamping getaway. The RVer may arrive with a stocked refrigerator, camp chairs, cooking equipment, firewood, roasting sticks, and everything else they’ve learned to bring along. The glamping guest may arrive with little more than an overnight bag.
That creates an opportunity.
Firewood bundles, s’mores kits, hot dog roasting supplies, locally sourced food and drinks, breakfast baskets, campfire packages, activity rentals, and other conveniences can make the guest’s stay easier while creating additional revenue for the property. Instead of expecting guests to arrive prepared for camping, operators can think about what they’ll want once they’re there—and make it easy to add those things to the experience.
Shorter stays can also mean more guests moving through the property over the course of a season. If those guests have an experience worth photographing and sharing, each stay creates another opportunity for social content, reviews, and word-of-mouth exposure.
For operators, the takeaway isn’t simply to maximize the nightly rate. It’s to consider the total value of each stay:
Ask yourself: What else will this guest need, want or be excited to experience during the one or two nights they’re here?
Source / session credit: Nic Gramstad, Campspot. The 64% one- or two-night reservation figure was presented in Campspot’s 2026 State of Glamping session.
5. Your Customer May Be Closer Than You Think
Glamping guests traveled an average of approximately 251 miles, or about 4.2 hours, according to the Campspot data presented at the show. By comparison, RV and seasonal guests traveled approximately 386 miles, or 6.3 hours.
That is an important marketing insight. Operators do not necessarily need to convince someone across the country to visit their property. Their strongest audience may be within a few hours’ drive.
For many destinations, that means the potential market includes nearby metropolitan areas and regional travelers looking for a one- or two-night escape. It also reinforces the importance of local SEO and destination-focused content.
Instead of marketing only the property itself, operators should consider how potential guests actually search: weekend getaways near a city, unique places to stay in a state, romantic getaways, glamping near a destination, or family weekend trips within driving distance.
Understanding the property’s realistic drive market can make marketing considerably more focused.
Source / session credit: Nic Gramstad, Campspot. Campspot reported an average glamping trip distance of 251 miles versus 386 miles for RV/seasonal guests.
6. You Don’t Have to Build a Glamping Resort to Add Glamping
Not every glamping opportunity starts with someone buying land and developing a destination from the ground up.
One idea raised during the show was particularly relevant for farmers and other landowners: look at what you’re already doing and consider whether lodging could create another source of revenue from it.
For some properties, the experience already exists.
Maybe it’s a working farm where guests can interact with animals. An orchard or flower farm where visitors come to pick what’s in season. A ranch with horseback riding and miles of trails. A property with a lake for fishing, kayaking, or canoeing. A vineyard where guests spend an afternoon tasting wine. Or a brewery, wedding venue, or other destination that already gives people a reason to visit.
In those cases, glamping doesn’t have to mean transforming the entire property into a resort. It can mean adding a small number of unique accommodations that allow guests to stay and experience more of what’s already there.
A couple could spend the afternoon at a winery, walk back to their covered wagon, and wake up among the vines the next morning. A family visiting a farm could feed the animals, pick flowers, spend the evening around a fire, and stay overnight instead of driving home. Guests at a ranch could spend the day horseback riding and return to a wagon at the end of the trail. A lakeside property could turn a day of fishing or paddling into an overnight getaway.
The accommodation creates revenue, but it can also extend the value of the activities already happening on the property. A day trip can become an overnight stay. An activity can become a package. And land already being worked can support another revenue stream without replacing its primary purpose.
That’s one reason agritourism and glamping can work so naturally together. The farm, ranch, vineyard, or other working property doesn’t have to become something it isn’t. In many cases, what it already is becomes the reason people want to stay.
For property owners considering diversification, the question may not be:
“Could I build a glamping resort?”
It may be much simpler:
Ask yourself: “What are people already coming here to experience—and what would happen if I gave them a reason to stay the night?”
7. Compare the Cost to Get Open — Not Just the Cost to Buy
Rising development costs and access to financing were recurring realities throughout the show. Industry research cited during the event indicated that startup costs have more than doubled since 2023, putting even more pressure on operators to understand what an accommodation will actually cost to get open and produce revenue.
One idea we heard at the show was particularly relevant: the cheapest unit is rarely the cheapest unit.
Will Beilharz, CEO and Co-Founder of Artistree Hospitality Group, shared lessons from sourcing accommodations and the unexpected costs that can appear along the way. His message was to “price the whole journey, not the unit.”
That same thinking can be applied when comparing site-built construction, prefab accommodations, and different types of glamping units.
The Lowest Quote Isn’t Necessarily the Lowest Cost
Developers may hear that building an accommodation on-site will be less expensive than purchasing a completed prefab unit. The initial construction estimate may support that argument—but the estimate isn’t necessarily the final cost of getting the accommodation open.
Site-built construction introduces variables. Material and labor costs can change. Weather can affect timelines. Subcontractors have to be scheduled and coordinated. Change orders happen. Unexpected site conditions arise. And every delay pushes the first available booking date further into the future.
Prefabricated accommodations can reduce some of those variables because much of the construction happens before the unit reaches the property. Operators have a clearer understanding of what they’re purchasing, what is already included, and what still needs to happen on-site.
But the same comparison should be made even between different types of prefab or glamping accommodations.
Compare Apples to Apples
A safari tent, dome, or yurt may have a lower advertised purchase price than a fully built covered wagon. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will have a lower guest-ready cost.
Depending on the accommodation and property, the operator may still need to level or prepare the site, pour a concrete pad or construct a deck, coordinate assembly, extend utilities, complete plumbing or electrical work, finish the interior, and purchase furniture and other necessities before the first guest can stay.
A covered glamping wagon approaches the project differently. The structure, floor, interior furnishings, plumbing and electrical systems are integrated into one accommodation before it arrives. The property still needs the appropriate site and utility connections, and the wagon requires delivery and final setup, including raising the bonnet. But much of what would otherwise involve separate materials, contractors and stages of construction is already part of the unit.
Does that mean a covered wagon will always have the lowest upfront price? No.
It means the comparison shouldn’t stop at the price on the quote.
If one accommodation costs less to purchase but requires a foundation, deck, assembly, additional trades, interior finishes, and furnishings before it can accept a reservation, those costs belong in the comparison too.
The real question is:
What will each option cost to get completely installed, furnished, connected, and ready for the first paying guest?
Time to Revenue Is Part of ROI
There is another cost that’s easy to overlook: time.
Every month an accommodation remains under construction is another month it isn’t available to book.
If a prefab accommodation can be installed and opened sooner than a site-built alternative, the value isn’t limited to construction convenience. It may allow the property to begin generating revenue sooner.
For an operator trying to open before peak season, that difference can become particularly important. Missing a few weeks can mean more than a delayed opening; it can mean missing some of the property’s highest-demand booking dates.
That’s why evaluating an accommodation investment should include more than purchase price:
Acquisition + site preparation + utilities + freight + installation + furnishings + financing + operating costs + time to opening.
Then compare that total investment against realistic ADR, occupancy and revenue potential.
The least expensive accommodation isn’t automatically the best investment. The accommodation with the highest ADR isn’t automatically the best investment either.
The better investment is the one whose complete economics make sense for the property—from the first dollar spent to the first guest booked and beyond.
COMPARE THE WHOLE INVESTMENT
Purchase price is only one number. Site costs, installation, opening timeline, nightly rate and occupancy all affect the return. Run the numbers before you decide.
Related speaker insight: Will Beilharz, CEO and Founder of Artistree, framed this as pricing the whole journey rather than only the unit; his session highlighted hidden costs that can erase an apparent upfront discount.
8. AI Discoverability Is Becoming Part of Hospitality Distribution
One of the clearest new themes at the 2026 show was the role AI may play in how travelers discover, compare, and eventually book hospitality properties.
Todd Sabo, Chief Growth Officer at Grevon, challenged operators to think beyond traditional search rankings and ask a more basic question: Can an AI assistant accurately understand your property well enough to recommend it?
That starts with the data layer. Property names, addresses, unit types, sleeping capacity, pet policies, check-in and check-out details, cancellation terms, amenities, availability, and other core facts should be accurate and consistent across the property website, Google Business Profile, booking systems, and third-party listings.
For operators, this is not a reason to chase promises of guaranteed placement in AI answers. It is a reason to make the property easier for both people and machines to understand. Test how major AI assistants describe your property, correct conflicting information, strengthen structured data, and keep booking information current.
Source / session credit: Todd Sabo, Chief Growth Officer, Grevon – “AI in Plain English: Walk Out Knowing What’s Real and What Isn’t,” Glamping Show Americas 2026.
9. Operators Need to Think Beyond the Trend
Perhaps the most important takeaway from Glamping Show Americas 2026 was that the industry is moving beyond the novelty phase. The question is no longer simply whether travelers know what glamping is. The bigger question is what happens as guests have more choices.
Successful properties will increasingly have to balance experience, comfort, differentiation, operational efficiency, rate potential, maintenance, financing and long-term ROI.
That means accommodation decisions should be made for more than what is popular today. Consider what the unit will require five or ten years from now. How easily can it be maintained? How much labor does it require between guests? Can it operate through more of the year? Will it still feel distinctive as competitors add more lodging?
Those are not necessarily the exciting questions. But they may be the questions that determine which glamping investments actually perform over the long term.
Where Glamping Goes From Here
The overall message coming out of Glamping Show Americas 2026 wasn’t simply that glamping is growing. It’s that glamping is growing up.
Guests are expecting more. Operators are paying closer attention to performance. Rising development costs are forcing greater scrutiny of investments. Technology is changing how properties are discovered. And as more accommodations enter the market, simply offering glamping is becoming less of a differentiator.
For operators, developers, and property owners, that creates both an opportunity and a challenge.
The opportunity is that travelers continue to seek unique places to stay and experiences worth traveling for. The challenge is that the accommodation alone can’t do all the work.
The strongest projects will bring together the right accommodation, a memorable guest journey, realistic financial planning, additional revenue opportunities, and an experience guests can’t easily find somewhere else.
And perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway we brought home from this year’s show:
Don’t add glamping simply to have glamping. Give people a reason to choose yours.
A Lot has Changed in 1 Year
At the 2025 Glamping Show, much of the conversation centered on creating memorable experiences, telling a stronger story, and standing out through unique accommodations. Those ideas haven’t gone away—but this year, the conversation went further.
We compared what we heard in 2025 with what operators were talking about in 2026—and the shift says a lot about where the glamping industry is headed.
Read: What Changed at the Glamping Show from 2025 to 2026 →
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FAQs
Q: What were the biggest Glamping Show Americas 2026 trends?
A: he strongest themes were revenue performance, higher guest expectations, experience-driven differentiation, shorter glamping stays, regional drive markets, agritourism and property diversification, total development costs, AI discoverability and long-term ROI.
Q: Is glamping still growing in 2026?
A: Yes. Fortune Business Insights estimates the global glamping market at about $4.07 billion in 2026 and projects a 10.67% CAGR through 2034. Campspot data presented at the show also indicated stronger year-over-year RevPAS performance for glamping resorts than for RV and seasonal/long-term parks without glamping inventory.
Q: What amenities do glamping guests expect?
A: The Campspot presentation described private in-suite bathrooms as a baseline expectation, with wellness features among the fastest-rising additions and EV charging positioned as part of the next wave.
Q: How long are most glamping stays?
A: Campspot data presented at the show indicated that 64% of glamping reservations were one or two nights, compared with 48% for RV and seasonal/long-term stays.
Q: How far do glamping guests travel?
A: Campspot reported an average trip distance of about 251 miles, or 4.2 hours, for glamping stays, compared with 386 miles, or 6.3 hours, for RV and seasonal guests.
Q: What should campground owners consider before adding glamping?
A: Evaluate the complete investment: accommodation cost, site preparation, utilities, freight, installation, financing, operating costs, realistic occupancy, ADR, maintenance and the accommodation’s ability to stand out in the local market.
Q: How should glamping operators prepare for AI travel discovery?
A: Keep core property information accurate and consistent across your website, booking engine, Google Business Profile and third-party listings. Use structured data where appropriate, keep availability and policies current, and periodically test how AI assistants describe your property.
Considering adding glamping to your property? Before choosing an accommodation, start with the numbers. Use the free PlainsCraft Glamping ROI Calculator to estimate nightly rate, occupancy, annual revenue and potential payback based on your property.
Speaker / Session References for Attribution
