Picture the scene: your glamping guests have just arrived. You’ve communicated a few times, repeatedly reminding them that the glampsite doesn’t have WiFi, and that check-in is at 3pm. And now, here they are, at midday, frustrated because they can’t check their social media.
All of those communications, and apparently none of the information got through. At Touch Stay, we call it “holiday brain” – guests are crazy busy in the build up to getting away and taking time off, then their brains switch off when they actually leave for the holiday. We all do it, we want to relax after all!
It’s a frustrating phenomenon, but we’ve got some good news: it’s avoidable! If you can entice guests into reading and engaging with the info you’re sending them, you’ll welcome glampers who are excited and prepared for their stay with you.
Touch Stay digital guidebooks convey all of your glampsite information, plus your recommendations for the local area. You can tell glampers:
- directions to your glamping resort
- where to dispose of food waste
- which local beach is a surfing haven
…all in one place! They can access it offline, and from any device, so they always have you with them. It’s like a personalised glamping guide that they can keep in their pocket.
In short: digital guestbooks save you time and stress, and empower your glampers to squeeze the most out of their luxury camping holiday. You can find more detail here about exactly how digital guidebooks support your glampsite operations.
We’re going to explain exactly how a digital guidebook will boost your glamping business, and how you can create one.
How a digital guestbook will benefit your glamping business
First, we’re going to outline exactly how a digital guidebook will make life easier for you and your glampers. Roll on the five-star reviews!
A digital guidebook helps you to communicate practical glampsite information
A glampsite generally requires more practical knowledge than, for example, a holiday rental property. In a short term rental most guests will recognise the dishwasher, even if they haven’t used that specific model before. In a glampsite, people may have never come across a wood-burning stove, or a firepit, or a composting toilet!
You need a way of telling glampsite guests:
- what to bring/wear on their glamping trip
- how to operate unfamiliar facilities
- how to find your glamping site
- how to access food and supplies during their stay
- guidelines for communal areas
And you want to tell them in a way that will encourage them to actually absorb the information! With customisable templates, you can include instructions for all aspects of your luxury camping site in your digital guidebook. You can also use deep links and QR codes to direct guests towards specific info and instructions.
A digital guest welcome book keeps your glampers (and glampsite!) safe
When guests don’t read instructions about how to operate the shower, it’s frustrating for them and for you. When guests don’t read instructions about operating the fire pit, or the wood-burning stove, you actually face a safety hazard. Any and all of these scenarios all prey on your precious time too.
A digital guidebook allows you to repeatedly highlight safety information to guests. You can share it with glampers multiple times before they arrive, and include instructional videos/diagrams to make guidance as clear as possible. Clarifying this information also helps to protect your glamping facilities and equipment. Guests are less likely to break equipment if they understand how to use it!
Think of a digital guidebook as the ultimate glamping guide that your glampers can access at all times. It keeps them happy, and (most importantly) it keeps them safe.
Reduce your insurance liability with a Touch Stay digital guidebook
When people are excited to read your instructions, they’re far less likely to cause breakages. Say goodbye to broken heating systems and damaged waste disposal! With a digital guidebook, glampers understand the ins and outs of your accommodation.
LISTEN: to Episode 4 of The Guest Cast if you’re interested in hearing more about respectfully communicating boundaries with guests.
Ultimately, you’re less likely to end up on the phone to your insurance company. Plus, if there are any breakages (because, let’s be honest, you can never completely avoid them!), you’ll have a resource to prove that you did your part in clearly relaying instructions to glampers.
A digital guidebook enhances your luxury camping experience
Glampers come to you because they want a unique luxury experience. You strive to make every other aspect of your glampsite comfortable, even indulgent, and why should your glamper information be any different? There’s no point carefully crafting a sumptuous yurt, pod, or cabin if the first thing glampers see is a tatty paper manual on the table.
Plus, a digital guidebook allows you to package less-than-luxury information in a sleek format. For example, your guests might need to understand how to operate your compost toilet, which doesn’t exactly scream glamour (for inspiration, see how Devon Dens packages this info in their guidebook). A digital guestbook helps you to strike the perfect balance of practicality and indulgence.
READ: The long term gains of a guest-first strategy to get our perspective on the link between unique experiences and happy guests.
A digital guestbook helps you to run a more efficient glamping business
Fewer glamper questions = more time for you. The equation really is that simple! And anyone who runs a glamping business knows that time is the most precious commodity you can gain.
When glampers receive information in the same humdrum formats – an email that goes on forever, a PDF that takes up the last scrap of storage space on their phone – they’re less likely to take it in. This means they come to you with questions during their stay.
When glampers receive info in an engaging new format (for example, via a digital glampsite guidebook!) they’re more likely to read and absorb it. Plus, it’s not buried in their inbox – because our guidebooks can be saved to a phone’s home screen where they behave just like an app, only with no downloading or updating required.
With the guidebook quite literally at their fingertips, they’re more likely to turn to it to answer their questions, rather than pinging you another message, which frees up your time to focus on your glamping business (or catch up on the latest Netflix drama, your choice!). Glampers still know that you care about their stay (perhaps even more so because of how gorgeous our digital guidebooks look 😉 ), but they’re not demanding more of your time than necessary.
Expand your digital marketing with a digital guestbook
A Touch Stay digital guidebook can start benefiting you before glampers even arrive! Just limit who sees sensitive information (e.g. access instructions) and then link to your guidebook from your listing and/or your glamping website to entice potential glampers in.
They’ll be able to see your glampsite in far more detail than most listing sites will allow, and will get a real sense of the care and effort you put into your glamper communications. Both of these factors could be that final push which gets them to click on that “book now” button!
Plus, you can reinforce glampers’ brand recognition by adding your glampsite’s logo, fonts, colours, and pictures to your Touch Stay digital guidebook. They know exactly who they should be recommending to friends!
Touch Stay digital guidebooks support you and your glampers
86% of Touch Stay users have more than halved the time they spend managing guests.
- Clearly communicate glampsite guidelines and glamper responsibilities
- Provide a five-star glamper experience with a polished guide and your personal local recommendations
At Touch Stay, we understand that the surest way to guarantee repeat bookings and word-of-mouth referrals is to give your glampers an experience that makes them feel good. Our guidebooks help you to do this by providing all the info they need well before they arrive. With your local recommendations, they can start getting excited about their stay before they even pack the car!
Your glampers feel prepared and welcomed, and you’re able to reclaim time and brain space for other things.
How to create a digital guidebook for your glamping site
Right, we’ve (hopefully!) convinced you that a digital guestbook will make your life easier and seriously improve your glampers’ experience. So, how do you actually go about creating one?
We promise it’s really simple! In practical terms, all you need to do is:
- create a free Touch Stay trial account (no credit card required)
- choose our Glamping template and edit it to fit your glampsite
- send the link to your next glampers
It really is as easy as 1, 2, 3! For more detail about what to include in your glampsite guest welcome book, read on.
Introduce yourself and welcome glampers to your site
Start off by just saying hi! If glampers feel that they know you a little, they’re more likely to engage with your communications.
Use this section to inject some personality into your glamper welcome book. Fill them in on:
- why you started your glamping resort
- what glamping means to you
- what your ethos is
- the glamping journey that brought you to this point
- what you enjoy doing outside of your business
Devon Dens takes this chance to fill glampers in on their sustainable ethos
Prepare glampers to arrive at your glamping site
This is your opportunity to avoid disgruntled, underprepared glampers. If you’re an experienced camper/glamper, it might feel obvious that glampers should bring hardy, waterproof clothing, or a warm fleece. For beginner glampers, however, this might not be clear.
Setting the right expectations is the first step towards stellar reviews – glampers know what they’re in for, and they’re primed to have a great time. So, before they arrive, fill glampers in on:
- the facilities available at your glamping site. Give them a heads up about how easily they’ll be able to cook, clean, etc.
- check-in times and processes, to ensure that they have a smooth arrival.
- how they can access your glampsite. Point them to the Map tab of the guidebook, where they can select your location and open directions in Google Maps.
- what you provide. This communicates the thought that you put into their stay, and helps them understand what they need to pack.
- what to bring on their glamping trip. Flag any equipment that you don’t provide for them, e.g. should they bring beach towels?
You essentially want this section to be a mini beginners guide to glamping – assume that your glampers know nothing, and then fill them in on the crucial details.
Introduce glampers to their luxury camping accommodation
Tell your glampers about the specific accommodation they’ll be staying in. Your site might have a range of different accommodation types, from yurts to renovated vans, and glampers need to understand the specific quirks of the structure they’ll be in.
Let them know:
- what their accommodation is called. Get glampers on a first-name basis with their new home!
- exactly what it is. Is it a yurt? Is it a cabin? A luxury, air-conditioned tent?!
- the facilities that it includes and how to operate them. Walk glampers through how to work the compost toilet/wood-burner/grill (short videos work brilliantly for this!).
- how they can access it/keep it secure. Make your glampers feel safe by explaining exactly how they can get into (and lock) their accommodation
- any eccentricities they should be aware of, e.g. how much noise insulation is there? Any head-height sharp corners they should be aware of?
Help them to feel comfortable at your glampsite by conveying the essential details of their home-from-home.
Excite glampers about local nature and wildlife
This section will be more or less crucial depending on where your glampsite is located. Info about the local flora and fauna in the UK will be primarily a matter of interest and environmental responsibility (still pretty crucial!), whereas in parts of Australia it might be more of a safety concern.
Whether it’s a matter of curiosity or security, it’s a good idea to fill glampers in on the plants and animals that they might encounter. For example, Paperbark Camp (New South Wales, Australia) tells its glampers about the local brushtail possums, antechinuses, and mosquitos in their guidebook.
They take this opportunity to allay the fears of any new visitors, who might be nervous about dangerous wildlife. They also request that glampers don’t leave any food in their tents overnight, to avoid temptation for hungry possums.
Aside from practical considerations, you can also help people to make the most of their brush with nature. Encourage glampers to spot the native species local to your area, or bring binoculars to take full advantage of the stars in your dark sky zone.
Share practical requests and advice with your glamping guests
You might have covered some of these tips already, particularly in your section preparing glampers to arrive at your site. But it’s so important that glampers understand the nitty-gritty of a holiday on your glamping site.
Tell them about how the toilets work. Tell them about your waste disposal system. These may not feel like the most luxurious details, but they’re key for ensuring that glampers arrive at your site with a full understanding of the experience they’re about to have. Having to figure things out when they mostly want to switch off their brains, won’t be the greatest start to a holiday, even if they’re up for a bit of adventure.
Outline the guidelines and facilities in the communal areas of your glampsite
If glampers are accustomed to staying in short term rentals, hotels or resorts, they’ll be used to having their own private space for the duration of their holiday. In a glampsite, this is rarely the case. Your glampers might have to share bathrooms, cooking facilities, and/or spaces to relax. So, they need to understand the guidelines that allow everyone to use these spaces safely and comfortably!
Explain any access restrictions and guidelines which apply to communal areas. This way guests feel prepared, knowing that they understand how these spaces work, and you can trust that these areas will function well for everyone.
Tell glampers what they can do in the local area
Last (but certainly not least!) give glampers your insider knowledge about the best local spots. Why not recommend:
- the best cafe for an ice cream on the beach
- the best pub for sheltering from the rain
- your favourite evening walking route
- the best restaurant for a hearty lunch
- the top spots to catch sight of local wildlife
- friendliest family eateries
- most exhilarating activities synonymous with a visit to the area
Can you strike a deal with the local paddleboarding company – perhaps a discount for glampers in return for your recommendation? This way, you support a local business and treat your glampers to a perk.
When deciding what to recommend, start by determining the target customers for your glamping site. Think about why people are coming to your area specifically – this will help you to land on glamping activity ideas that chime with your guests.
The Touch Stay digital guidebook has a Map tab, which allows you to pin your recommendations so that your glampers can easily orient themselves. You can pull in information really quickly and easily from our Google Places integration, then customise the descriptions of your favourite restaurants, cafes and activity centres to convey what you particularly enjoy about them.
Wave a (virtual!) goodbye to your glamping guests
This final section is your opportunity to solidify the relationship that you’ve been building with your glampers. You’ve helped them to prep for their stay; kept them informed about all the facilities available to them; provided a warm welcome (even if it is virtual) and your personal recommendations. Now, you can use your final section to seal them in as repeat guests!
Tell them how much you’ve enjoyed having them, and then:
- explain your check-out times & processes
- point them towards your social media platforms
- ask them to write a review
- let them know that you’ll be adding them to your newsletter
- list any gifts or souvenirs they can buy to take home
- gift them a repeat customer discount code for a future stay
Repeat glampers secured!
Wave goodbye to unhappy glampers with Touch Stay
When people choose you, they’re choosing a glamping experience. They want to enjoy a stay that’s (literally!) off the beaten track, somewhere they can make memories that will last beyond the drive home. You’re already providing a unique, luxury stay – we’re just helping you to add a cherry on top.
Touch Stay supports you in acing your glamper communications, whilst helping you to reclaim your time. With Touch Stay, you can:
- place QR codes on any tricky appliances that point directly to those instructions in the guidebook
- insert instructional videos to help your glampers navigate any new processes
- share the link with glampers multiple times before they even arrive – to the guidebook, generally, or to specific sections within it to tailor your communications even more!
Plus, we have a 14-day free trial – no credit card required! So you can try us out without spending a penny.
