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Using tech to improve your guests' glamping experience

While the short term rentals world has been happily expanding at a speedy rate, glamping has bloomed beautifully in the alternative accommodation category, stealing its fair share of guest dollars. In fact, we can expect to see the global glamping market reach $3.9 billion by 2027 – that’s a lot of happy glampers anticipating a visit to your glampsite!

With the newfound demand comes the inevitable moment where a little scaling of your glamping business might be in order. But how do you do that without a tent pole coming loose, a yurt collapsing in on itself, or an airstream feeling more like airstuck?

Never fear, Touch Stay tech guidance is here!

A top-notch tech stack can help you to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground while helping your glamping business reach new heights. It allows you to scale your operations, automate workflows, add power to your personalisation, while helping you get back to doing more of what you love!

Today we’ll address the why and how of incorporating tech as a key component of your glamping business and how it improves your guests’ glamping experience in the process.

Table of Contents

Why incorporate tech for your glamping business

There are many reasons you might consider building your own tech stack for your glampsite. 

With an endless number of tech options to choose from these days, getting to the why of tech before the what, gives you a strong foundation in knowing which tech is the best tech for you and your glampsite!

 

1. Tech enhances the guest experience

Sharing pertinent information with your guests for your glampsite doesn’t have to be tedious business. In fact, it can be a joyful, exciting part of your guests’ experience when tech is folded in.

Tech in the form of a digital guidebook, also supplies your guests with the inside scoop while delivering personalised recommendations for a glamp-tastic stay, without you having to answer repetitive guest questions. So when an urgent request comes through from a guest, vacation rental tech improves both yours and your guests’ experience.

2. Tech helps run your glampsite more efficiently

When first starting out with your glamping business, an endless array of tasks meant to take your glampsite from gloomy to glitzy, can bog you down.

Cut out manual, repetitive tasks and achieve operational efficiency by investing in vacation rental technology. Rather than constantly jumping to and fro in an attempt to accomplish different tasks, you’ll suddenly have more free time than you ever thought possible to focus on other areas of your business.

By incorporating the tech solution that best suits your business needs, you can easily funnel information and communicate efficiently with any member of your staff. So when a spill or clean-up needs attention, tech helps you get the job done at lightning speed, thanks to quick and easy correspondence with your cleaning team.

 
 
 

3. Tech increases glampsite visibility

Amongst a sea of glampsites still using their tattered and torn guest welcome books, or doing things the ‘old-school way’, it certainly helps to stand out from the crowd.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with keeping it old school, at Touch Stay we’re all about creating empowered guests who in turn become happy guests! Happier guests in part means making their lives easier throughout their stay with you. This can be achieved by implementing a fulsome (yet intentional) tech stack.

By using technology like property management systems, channel managers and smart home devices, you have more time to work on other aspects of your business, too. This includes creating an online presence (an equally important piece of tech to amplify your business!) or investing in technology-driven marketing tactics to help you better understand how to provide the best experience for your guests.

4. Tech manages remote glampsites for remote hosts

Whether you’re a remote host to your glampsite, or your glamping properties are set in a remote location, technology is there to lend a hand. Despite the challenges that come with a remote location, like efficiently meeting your guests’ needs or managing a variety of different types of units depending on your glampsite (think yurts, domes and huts) it’s easy to impart vacation rental technology to remotely communicate with your guests. 

Owner, Property Manager, Consultant, and “recovered tech startup VP” Tammi Sims, nurtures strong relationships with her guests through remote communications. Having always been a remote host, an authentic guest experience is straight-forward and seamless for her to impart on her guests no matter her distance with the right tools in her tech stack.

Picture of flowers and wine in tenthttps://guide.touchstay.com/guest/EozWsyokwbTik/info/147143

5. Tech supplies contactless services and solutions

Cloud-based solutions grant your guests the freedom to manage their own glamping experience. No matter how remote or spread out your glamping property might be, contactless solutions serve a key purpose in minimising contact with you or your staff to create a truly remote experience, while still providing access to pertinent information for the duration of your guests’ stay.

 A few examples might be:

  • online self-check-in
  • digital key cards or online access to yurt information
  • instructions for operating smart home devices located within the hut
  • online or mobile payment options for guests looking to leave their cash at home

Not to mention, there are many contactless solutions that are accessible from anywhere, given they are available to download for offline use. 

We might be a little biased but a Touch Stay digital guidebook checks all the boxes in meeting these needs, connecting your guests to you and your property before, during and even after their stay with you!

6. Tech promotes and upholds environmental initiatives

A huge component of the glamping experience is about getting out, exploring and being at one with nature in an upscaled way (this ain’t your backcountry tenting experience reminiscent of childhood summer holidays!).  

While it might be a bit counterintuitive for guests to remain connected to technology while at the same time trying to disconnect from the outside world, technology actually does a bang up job of reducing your glampsite’s environmental impact while keeping your guests connected. 

Cloud-based technologies reduce paper piles generated by the daily operations of managing your glamping business – think:

  • printed reports
  • reservations
  • guest receipts
  • house manual

Not to mention, with paper versions of these documents also increases the chance of losing originals or copies, making it potentially difficult to maintain organised record keeping.

So you’ll be able to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk when it comes time to apply initiatives that actually align with your environmental values as part of your glamping business.

 

How to incorporate tech for your glamping business

In an age where so many tech options are available at your fingertips, it can be easy to quickly go overboard and feel overwhelmed. 

Being strategic when first starting to build your own tech stack, not only for your glampsite, but any kind of STR or vacation property, can create a smooth onboarding process and reduce ‘tech-fatigue’.

It’s also important to remain personable and human-centric as you scale your tech stack. While embracing tech can be wonderfully helpful in initiating a self-sufficient business, ensure it doesn’t detach you altogether from your guest amidst creating a personalised guest experience. Chances are, the free time you gain from implementing tech will enhance the real life relationships you’re able to build with your guests. And happy guests say great things to their friends once they’re back on home turf 

Despite a wide variety of  readily available vacation rental technology options in today’s market, many lose sight of targeting the guest experience. Tech is ultimately about creating efficiency for you and your guests, but not becoming so efficient as to remove the human-centred approach out of the guest experience altogether.

 
 
 
 

5 tech options for your glampsite

It’s time we turned our attention to the types of tech that can potentially assist your glamping business. While this is entirely a matter of personal preference, the one key point to remember is to prioritise operational technology. That is, tech which helps you streamline tasks that take up a significant portion of your daily operations and are going to make the biggest impact on your business – think:

  • providing cleaning instructions
  • guiding staff communications
  • managing glampsite bookings
  • addressing guest enquiries and recommendations

Without further ado, let’s look at a few pieces of tech you might consider adding to your stack!

1. Channel manager

Gone are the days of manually updating and editing your property listing information on each individual booking platform. If you’re done like dinner with multiple online travel agency (OTA) dashboards, a channel manager lets you sync and manage every aspect of your glampsite listings across all major booking sites from one convenient location.

A channel manager lets you retrieve reservation information as well as automatically sync glampsite availability, preventing any dreaded overbookings or double booking scenarios with your guests.

OwnerRez logo

Touch Stay Top Choice: OwnerRez 

OwnerRez offers users a powerful, flexible way to manage vacation rental properties, with their property management tool featuring a host of tech designed to help you run your vacation rental like nobody’s business.

Their software features a channel manager, property reporting and analytics, accounting and website and branding assistance.

For more information, check out the OwnerRez x Touch Stay integration!

 
person holding white Android smartphone in white shirt

2. Property management system

A property management system (PMS) amalgamates all booking information surrounding your glampsite, offering one centralised point for you to review and manage your glampsite’s operational and administrative workflows. 

A PMS often includes modules to help you efficiently monitor and upkeep administrative tasks related to:

  • reservation management
  • guest check-in and check-out
  • housekeeping
  • revenue management

Many PMS offerings also provide website builders to assist you in setting up your own direct booking site. This can be a valuable way to increase your glampsite’s revenue, as most major OTAs take a fee off the top of your bookings for operational purposes.

Anytime Booking logo

Touch Stay Top Choice: Anytime 

Our friends over at Anytime know how to do a PMS right. Their fully-supported property management software is ideal for outdoor holiday businesses, helping you to streamline direct and third party bookings while delivering the best guest experience.  

They’re used and loved by holiday homeowners, motorhome and campervan fleets, camping and caravan sites, as well as holiday parks.

The Anytime X Touch Stay integration is now live!

 

3. Screening tools

Potential guests have now turned into actual guests thanks to the latest booking via your OTA or your direct booking site! Before you celebrate just yet, implementing screening protocols to ensure your guests are dreamy rather than drabby, will do just the trick. 

A screening tool prevents the tyre kickers, party crashers or even illicit activities from taking place within your huts, yurts or airstreams, as well as on your glampsite property grounds.

Touch Stay Top Choice: SUPERHOG x Know Your Guest

SUPERHOG lets you affirm ground rules with guests, clarify guidelines via instructional videos as well as impart screening processes to ensure your visitors are the right fit for your glampsite.

The SUPERHOG x Touch Stay partnership also means Touch Stay and SUPERHOG customers get the best of both a digital guest welcome book in tandem with intelligent guest screening services. 

 
 
 
 

4. Digital guidebook

Eliminate repetitive guest questions, deliver practical and personalised recommendations and empower your guests with a digital guidebook! Easy to download and accessible offline, a digital guest welcome book replaces your tired, mangled and outdated house manual and replaces it with a sleek, shiny interface your guests will love to use.

Letting you reclaim the joys of hosting your glampsite while helping you run a more efficient business, a digital guest welcome book also makes it easy to update the content as new attractions, restaurants and locales open in your glampsite’s city or township.

 

Touch Stay Top Choice: Touch Stay

We don’t mean to blow our own horn, but here at Touch Stay, we are pretty chuffed about the product we’ve created (we think you’ll love it for your glampsite!). Touch Stay’s digital guidebooks for glampsites are both beautiful yet succinct in delivering your glamping guests the need-to-know and want-to-know information for a glorious glamping experience with you.

Entirely customisable to suit the branding needs of your glamping business, our digital guidebooks have multiple language options for guests coming from afar to stay with you.

 

5. Smart home devices

Last but certainly not least on our list, smart home gadgets are super fun, yet effective gizmos that will wow both you and your guests.

From noise monitoring systems, WiFi thermostats and smart locks to more familiar forms of entertainment like Google Home Minis or Amazon Alexas, smart home gadgets create a welcoming environment suited to your guests’ temperature, lighting and entertainment needs.

StayFi logo

Touch Stay Top Choice: StayFi

Make your WiFi work for you and your guests with StayFi. StayFi lets you create custom splash pages for guest WiFi access, personalised to your glampsite’s branding while collecting valuable marketing information in the process. 

StayFi uses cloud-managed WiFi technology, letting you collect emails from every guest that uses your WiFi. In turn, you can use this information to create automated drip email campaigns while building out a substantial guest list for repeat bookings. 

What’s more? StayFi lets you monitor all of your WiFi networks remotely – no need to harangue guests onsite in the event the WiFi stops working. The StayFi x Touch Stay partnership provides powerful WiFi to your guests, while helping you to drive more bookings with your digital guidebook.

 

Take your tech to a ten with a Touch Stay digital guidebook

A piece of vacation rental tech that will really talk to your guests, a Touch Stay digital guidebook achieves all of the reasons to impart tech as part of your glampsite and more. 

Featuring accessible, offline access to off-grid adventurers alongside a sleek, intuitive design, your guests will have a blast browsing your digital guest welcome book while waiting for their yurt’s solar panels to boil the kettle for a cuppa.