Caravan sites across Tayside and Fife are reaping the rewards of giving the ”glampers” what they want.
An increasing number of modern-day campers pack their hair straighteners and mobile phones along with the tents and want power direct to their pitch.
High-maintenance women and men who want to maintain their normal glamour standards on a campsite have spawned the term ”glamping”.
One camper pitched up at a Perth site with a satellite dish and, with power provided to the tent pitch there, he hooked up his dish and TV.
The same site has already sold out all its glamping pitches for next July when 10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses will be attending a convention at nearby McDiarmid Park.
Graeme Sinclair, proprietor of Noah’s Ark Caravan Park, on the western edge of Perth, said glamping was the highest growth area for caravan parks across the country.
Last season he introduced six small wooden lodges that sleep four ”glampers” and include a fridge, a heater and a TV. They proved so popular he introduced two more that sleep six this summer and plans to install a further two for next year because the demand is so great.
Mr Sinclair said: ”In June, July and August we had a 99.2% occupancy rate. It was the same last year.
”Glamping is huge. Glampers want all the comforts they want to be able to watch X Factor on a Saturday night and they want to enjoy a glass of cold beer or chilled wine.
”It’s all about mod cons and meeting people’s expectations.”
Glamping pitches on the site have already sold out to festival goers attending next year’s T in the Park and Scone Rewind Festival.
Bill McDonald, proprietor of South Links Holiday Park, Montrose, said: ”Camping is not like when I was younger. It’s definitely not roughing it. People in tents will bring hairdriers and straighteners and expect somewhere to plug them in.”
The holiday park now has 27 ”hook-ups” for tents, with power delivered to pitches.
In a first for Angus he introduced wooden ”pods” that have proved popular during their first season on the site. The accommodation is a step up from a tent and is proving popular with golfers as well as the glampers.
There has been major investment in the holiday park since Mr McDonald took over the site from Angus Council 17 months ago and he says the whole town is benefiting.
Over the summer the site was regularly full, with visitors not only contributing to the profits of the holiday park but boosting the takings elsewhere in the town.
Mr McDonald said: ”It is good for the town. I have had a lot of shops, hotels and restaurants commenting they have seen a big change.”