Unique design

In brief: Guests want their trip and the place they stay in to be one of a kind, even on a budget

When glamping first exploded onto the travel scene in April 2010, it was a frontpage photo in the Guardian travel section of a thatched roundhouse in Cornwall that captured everyone’s imagination. As the sector grew, professional build companies arose that could provide multiple, identical units at low cost. They made glamping big business, but the unique, jaw-dropping space has always been at the heart of the industry. This year, the top-performing sites on Canopy & Stars were a double decker bus, a Roman-style fort and a magnificent treehouse. They confirm that nothing beats a place with unique magic, but with such impressive builds come high rates and financially cautious guests still want to see personality wherever they stay, or to spread the cost on a group trip.

Financial pressures have helped the resurgence of the shepherd’s hut. These small spaces tick a lot of boxes for consumers, being packed full of experiences and still expressive of their owners and locale while falling within a more modest budget. Among new spaces admitted to the collection this year, we saw an 850% increase in shepherd’s huts compared to last year. In the past we’ve seen and rejected many uninspired shepherd’s huts and while our selection criteria haven’t changed, owners have upped their game, bringing a delightful creativity to designing and decorating small spaces.

Approaching more careful spending from a different direction, many have chosen to share the cost and share the fun, leading to a rise in bookings for spaces of larger capacity. Our data shows that group bookings (those for 6+ guests) increased by 7.2% YOY, despite a fall in the number of places places catering to larger parties. Thanks to the more complex demands and organisational challenges of a large-party booking, we can also track the rise in their popularity through the 82% increase in email and phone enquiries from 2022 to 2023, with that high level continuing in 2024. With the demand clearly present, it seems supply could become the issue and a space designed and positioned expressly for larger groups could be a huge opportunity.

It might be the exterior of a space that gets the press talking, but guests who have one eye on their social media feeds are always keen on good interior design. There’s also the chance, given changeable British weather, that they may be spending a lot of their time indoors, so comfort and character can be a big draw. We’ve seen interior overhauls, along with accompanying photoshoots, take places from 60% to almost 100% occupancy, so for owners the investment is worth it and for guests it’s a deciding factor in which place to book.