Glamping Business Loans
If you’ve just set up your glamping site, or you’re thinking about it, you might need working capital to help make your vision a reality. Find out which loans you’re eligible for by using our free business loan comparison tool.
- Compare a wide range of lenders and rates
- Check your eligibility in minutes
- Find out how much you could borrow
It's fast, free and won't affect your credit score
Setting up a glamping business
Glamping bridges that gap between camping and hotel stays. With features like electricity, fire pits, hot tubs, showers, and decking, glamping is a way to enjoy nature without sacrificing some home comforts.
You might be looking for a second income, a new primary income, or you have access to spare land sitting underutilised. Start-up costs are lower than other property ventures, and with healthy margins and the demand for UK staycations remaining steady, managing a glamping site can be a viable and exciting option when you want to work for yourself.
The kind of glamping site you set up completely depends on your budget, land availability, and the kind of guests you want to attract.
Some common glamping types include:
- Glamping pods
- Shepherd huts
- Safari tents
- Yurts
- Treehouses and cabins
Many glamping sites start small with one or two units, because a small site helps you test demand without pouring too much capital into it.
The cost of starting a glamping business
Research from Sykes Holiday Cottages suggests that it costs an average of £65,000 to set up a glamping business. But costs vary significantly depending on the type of site you’re setting up, and whether you already have land.
It can cost between £50,000 and £250,000 just to find suitable land for your glamping site, according to Hully. Connecting utilities can cost up to £30,000, and up to £100,000 for infrastructure and facilities. There’s the cost of marketing and advertising to consider, too, which can start at a few thousand pounds.
But with the global glamping market size set to grow at a compound annual rate of 10.9% between 2023 and 2030, it’s a thriving market with the average glamping property generating around £17,000 each year.
Reasons you might need a glamping business loan
Although it might not seem like much, a few glamping pods and a firepit, it’s actually not a very cheap business to launch. The units themselves might not cost too much, but you’ll potentially need groundworks to level your pitch and connections for water, drainage, and electricity. Your access roads might need work, too.
You have to think about other things outside of the basics, the bits that will command a higher price, like fire pits, landscaping, hot tubs, etc. And, all of a sudden, the budget you need triples.
Unexpected costs are also common in this business, for example, wet winters, delaying necessary groundworks, or the council asking for changes you haven’t budgeted for.
This is a business where you’ll have to pay for almost everything upfront, months and months before you accept your very first paying guest. And this gap between spending and earning stretches your cash flow.
A business loan helps you effortlessly bridge that gap, giving you the funds you need to get on with the work, where unexpected expenses don’t halt project progress, and you can make money sooner.
Glamping business loans
There are plenty of business loan options for hospitality businesses like yours. Here are two options to consider:
Small business loans
A small business loan is typically given as a lump sum, which you then repay through fixed monthly instalments. These loans are a good option if you benefit from predictable loan repayments.
Use your loan how you see fit in your business; a small business loan isn’t tied to a particular business purpose, so you can use it for anything business-related. Pay for groundworks, purchase the initial pods, and invest in marketing campaigns as you get ready to launch.
Asset finance
If you need financial support for buying your initial units, you can use asset finance. This is where you spread the cost of your asset (i.e. your glamping pods) over time, rather than spending a lump sum of your working capital upfront.
And if you want to increase your pod count for the following season, you can finance them separately again, keeping more money in the business.
Which one is the right fit for you?
If your main cost is the pods/units themselves, asset finance could be a good choice.
But, if you need a solution to help you fund the entire site, from utilities to land prep, units to all the extras, then you might find you have more flexibility with a small business loan.
You don’t have to choose one single loan product, either. You might choose to finance the glamping pods with asset finance, and fund everything else with a flexible business loan.
Am I eligible for a glamping business loan?
Eligibility requirements vary depending on lenders and loan products, but most lenders look at:
- Your trading history. There are more loan options available the longer you’ve been trading. But if you’re a startup business, you can still apply for a loan; you just might have fewer options.
- Your turnover or projected income. Lenders need to check that you can comfortably repay the loan, which means understanding your expected bookings and revenue.
- Your credit history. Lenders might check your personal and business credit history.
- Your business plan. Lenders want to see how you plan to use the funds and that you’ve thought it through.
How Capalona can help
Our free business comparison tool means you don’t have to apply to lenders one by one; instead, you share with us what you’re looking for, and we match you to multiple eligible products.
Getting a quote won’t affect your credit score, as we only conduct a soft credit search. You can compare offers in one place, helping you understand the best rates and terms before committing.
There’s no obligation to accept any offer, check what’s available at your leisure and decide which loan is right for you.
Start comparing glamping business loans today.
About the author
Adrian T
5/5
Amazingly fast, efficient service, minimal paperwork. So much faster than my business bank of twelve years.
FAQs
0330 223 5036