Image source @Visual China
html At the end of March, when it was outing, Internet practitioner Guowei (pseudonym) made an appointment with friends and had a camping camping in the Elephant Ludao Natural Park in the suburbs of Beijing."The campground has a complete tent, picnic mat, cooking utensils and other equipment. The weather is particularly good, and there is a lake inside. We made a big pot of delicious food. We had a great time while eating and chatting. We had a great time."
Elephant Ludao Nature Park Campground, picture source @ Guowei
A tent, a grass field, accompanied by a table of exquisite meals, breathing the fresh air outdoors and enjoying the pleasure of physical and mental relaxation... During the May Day holiday, many people have packed up their equipment and started camping outdoors.
Titanium Media App noticed that camping orders have shown a rapid upward trend in recent days, whether it is a camping base, or OTA platforms such as Ctrip , Fliggy . Ctrip data shows that Ctrip's camping trip orders increased by 5 times during the May Day holiday compared with the Qingming Festival holiday, and the average daily search volume of relevant keywords in the site in April increased by about twice month-on-month.
camping has not only become an outdoor leisure activity that young people are rushing to, but the camping economy hidden behind it has also attracted the attention of more and more practitioners.
exquisite camping fires come out of the circle
camping, which was previously popular in Europe and the United States, and later emerged in Japan and South Korea, and different categories were derived, namely, camping is divided into three types: traditional camping, convenient camping and exquisite camping. Among them, the domestic trend of "exquisite camping" is in full swing.
The so-called exquisite camping is composed of "Glamorous Camping". It is also called wild luxury and luxury camping. It pays more attention to excellent equipment, as well as a youthful and personalized experience. It is the mainstream camping form that young people love today.
Picture source @Visual China
How popular is camping? From the Xiaohongshu where internet celebrities gather, you can see that searching for camping related topics has reached 2.71 million notes. Whether it is camp selection, camping guide, or camping check-in photos full of literary style, they all convey the world the poetry and the vision of a beautiful life in the distance.
Picture source @Xiaohongshu
Camping enthusiast Yabin told Titanium Media App that it is addictive to truly participate in camping. For him, camping is a great way to live. Put down your phone, plan with your family and friends, and enjoy the time of setting up a tent and having an outdoor picnic.
"If you really want to experience camping, then start collecting equipment, preparing ingredients, and choosing a camp. After experiencing this process, when you lie in a tent and listen to the raindrops falling, you will feel a sense of satisfaction."
follows the "rhythm" camping of young people, and has become a blue ocean market in the wind.
Qichacha data shows that as of March 28, there were more than 41,000 "campground" related companies in my country. Among them, 8,758 related companies were added in 2020, an increase of 227.52% year-on-year, achieving the largest growth rate in the past decade. In 2021, 21,000 new related companies were added, an increase of 139.50% year-on-year, which was the year with the largest number of related companies registered in the past decade.
Data source @Qichacha
At the same time, since the second half of last year, the camping track has also ushered in a capital boom. Outdoor lifestyle brands such as Hi King, Naturehike, and ABC Camping Country have successively received financing, and the financing stages are all in the early stages. Among the brands such as
, Hot Wilderness and Hi King mainly focus on "carry-in-the-bag" camping services, while Nokke and ABC Camping Country focus on outdoor equipment services. Among them, Nokke's camping equipment products have been sold in 86 countries and regions around the world, including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia.
So, is camping favored by capital a good business? What are the current industrial situations worth paying attention to behind? What is the "money prospect" of the camping economy?
The popularity of camping directly drives the hot sales of a series of camping equipment products.
Tmall data shows that in the first three months of this year, the transaction volume of camping equipment such as large tents, sky curtains, folding tables and chairs , sleeping bags increased by more than twice the year-on-year. JD sales data shows that since April this year, the search volume of JD sports camping products has increased significantly by 145% compared with the same period last year, and the search volume from Beijing has increased by more than 7 times month-on-month.
outdoor brand "Berchhe" marketing manager Rakuten told Titanium Media App that camping equipment is mainly divided into nine "systems", the first is the mobile space system such as tents and sky curtains, the second is the mobile sleep system such as moisture-proof mat , sleeping bags, etc., and the third is the mobile kitchen system such as kitchen utensils and convenient stoves. In addition, there are mobile living room systems, mobile bedroom systems, mobile restaurant systems, mobile lighting systems, winter heating systems and protection and protection peripheral systems.
According to Titanium Media App, tents are the core category of camping. For a long time, the high-end market has been occupied by foreign brands such as Hilleberg, Black Diamond, Stephenson's Warmlite, Nordis, and their prices are generally expensive. Take Nordis as an example. The price of a tent is as high as 9,000 yuan, which makes domestic consumers say they can't afford it.
However, as the market of is becoming more popular, domestic consumers have turned to cost-effective Chinese camping brands.
Titanium Media App uses the keyword "outdoor camping tent" to search. On the Tmall platform, brands such as Primitive Man and Antarctic Man have sold over 10,000 yuan, with prices ranging from 100 to 300 yuan. Brands such as Mugaodi and Decathlon have sold 6,000+ per month, with an average price of nearly 300 yuan.
Lotte told Titanium Media App: "The quality of domestic camping equipment is enough to match international brands. Compared with European and American equipment brands, what is lacking is the brand premium." He believes that domestic brands have great advantages, rich industrial belts, and easier to meet user consumption needs and continuously expand SKUs. However, foreign camping brands have higher purchase costs, logistics costs and time costs, and the consumer experience is not very good.
He also said that since Japanese and Korean camping brands serve the entire Asian market, domestic brands are relatively worth learning from in terms of R&D, so as to launch products that are more in line with market demand.
In fact, domestic camping equipment products including Mugaodi and Noke have become the first choice for domestic consumers and are also sought after in overseas markets. "Consumers are more willing to buy all camping equipment from a brand, so brands including Pelch and others are doing full-category research and development to meet market demand." Lotte told Titanium Media App.
For equipment brands, the repurchase rate is a big problem. Rakuten said that the solution has two aspects: on the one hand, it is to increase SKU and enhance product strength, and on the other hand, it is to seize the minds of consumers through offline activities, communities and new media channels, and generate repurchase based on brand trust.
Nowadays, there are still many problems with the camping equipment track. Due to the crazy influx of merchants in a short period of time, and most new brands choose to sell through e-commerce channels, fighting price wars, and the quality of products is of uneven quality, which has had a negative impact on industrial development. Lotte told Titanium Media App: "The market is now in a stage of extensive growth, and some unscrupulous brands will inevitably be eliminated. Only companies that do omni-channel, focus on R&D and design, and have customers can survive." In addition to the camping equipment market,
camping site operation is also a major industry. Lotte told Titanium Media App: "In the entire camping industry chain, camping brands and camps complement each other. Brand companies export products and content more, while camps are like capillaries to better host consumers."
takes the outdoor camping lifestyle brand "Hot Wilderness" as an example. It attracted the attention of the capital market in November last year, and received two consecutive rounds of financing, becoming a popular player in the track. In the operating model of
, the hot wilderness cooperates with land owners, hotels and tourist attractions to share ground cooperation. Up to now, there are more than 20 camps operating nationwide, distributed in Sanya , Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Huizhou , Zhuhai, Fuzhou, Wuhan and other places. By August last year, the revenue had reached tens of millions.
Like other brands, the hot wilderness has also experienced the increasingly hot stage of domestic camping.Shi Zhengnan, partner of
, told Titanium Media App: "2018 to 2019 is a relatively important time node. At that time, the scene of young people obtaining information changed. In the past, they directly searched for consumption information through OTA platforms. Later, they became concerned about content platforms such as Xiaohongshu, B station, Zhihu and other content platforms to make consumption decisions. This brought new opportunities to service companies that market customer acquisition through content platforms in sub-sector fields."
He recalled that by the end of 2020, there were only 30,000 to 50,000 notes on camping on Xiaohongshu, but now it has exceeded 2.7 million, which has increased by more than 50 times. "The first stop in the hot wilderness is in Sanya, which adopts the form of moving in with your bag. At that time, two bloggers from Beijing were invited to shoot the content for dissemination, but the order was suddenly hit."
Shi Zhengnan said that those who love camping are all young people who love life and are willing to share, and they have a demand for the aesthetics of life and the sense of rituals of life, which is highly consistent with Xiaohongshu users.
relies on the traffic explosion triggered by Xiaohongshu, and the hot wilderness has won the first wave of dividends. Founder Zhu Xian once said that the hot wilderness has been a state of traffic overflow since the beginning, and nearly 70% of its users are from Xiaohongshu .
After one or two years of market changes, the portraits of camping users have undergone some changes.
"In the past, young people born in the 1995 were playing, but now, including those born in the 1970s and 1980s, have joined in. Family trips around first-tier cities are becoming more and more frequent, and camping has become a way of mass outdoor consumption." Shi Zhengnan told Titanium Media App.
Lotte said that the people who are now camping are concentrated among the people born in the 1980s and 1990s, among which the people born in the 1980s are parent-child consumption. In addition, men were the main consumer group in the past, but now the proportion of women is getting higher and higher. They have strong consumption ability and have the pursuit of a better life.
consumer side, camping is nothing more than three types: traditional camping, convenient camping and exquisite camping.
Yabin recalled to Titanium Media App: "Before 2020 to mid-2021, there were three main types of camping consumption. The first is the membership system, where consumers pay 8,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan a year, and they can play unlimitedly; the second is to spend 300 yuan to 500 yuan to buy a single camping; the third is open camping, which can be camped for 200 yuan. If you spend the night, you may add 100 yuan. The camping company will provide services such as fireworks shows and hot air balloons."
is a camping camping site, and manpower, camp rental and other cost expenses are indispensable.
Hi King founder Cui Lianbo once publicly stated that in Hi King's camp management plan exported to the outside world, a single camp will set up 20 to 30 tents, and the price of a single tent is about 12,000 yuan. The overall investment is expected to be 600,000 yuan. Under normal operation, the gross profit margin can reach 60%, and the camp return period is roughly 6 to 8 months.
Titanium Media App noticed that with the increase of cooperative camps, players are more inclined to build their own camps. On the one hand, they can provide better services, and on the other hand, the cost of self-built is lower than the profit distribution expenditure, which is also a major market trend.
At present, the self-operated camp contracted by Hot Wilderness in Beijing has a lease period of 20 years. The first phase of infrastructure construction has been completed and will be put into use soon. Many self-operated camps across the country are under planning and construction. Shi Zhengnan said that during the May Day holiday, two camps in the hot wilderness opened in Beijing and were basically fully booked. "Even if there are sporadic refunds due to the epidemic, you can still get it in at any time."
Take Beijing Fangshan Cloud 516 Camp as an example. The camp is located in Hebei Town, Fangshan District. Online reservations for hot wilderness show that in statutory holidays, the price of a tent with up to four people with bags is 2,696 yuan, including supporting services such as firewood, bonfire, and barbecue. From the perspective of consumer audience, it is mainly tourists from Beijing.
Big Hot Wilderness Beijing Cloud 516 Camp
"I think the biggest cost of camping camp operations comes from labor costs, depreciation of camping equipment, and water and electricity taxes. Although there are a lot of expenses, it is the peak season now, and merchants can quickly recover their money." Lotte said.
However, like camping products, campsite operations also have problems with repurchase rates.
Shi Zhengnan told Titanium Media App that the hot wilderness will launch camping equipment rental business soon, and will also cooperate with some well-known brands in equipment. "After cardholder members enter the camp, they can rent our equipment and bring their own ingredients to experience camping. There are only zero and countless camping times. We provide users with a bag to fall in love with camping first, and then repurchase through non-bake-in services and product forms."
He said that nature has a strong connection with outdoor life. There are scenes of equipment and facilities, scenes of city parks, shoping Malls, cafes, bars... From space to service to experience to brands, there are many ways to make profits. "The campsite is just an entrance to generate links, and in the end it is actually an outdoor lifestyle."
This means that the business forms of camping can be more diversified, such as "camping + study", "camping + performing arts" camping + performing arts, "camping + sports"... It is expected that camping camps will still develop towards the path of diversification and innovation in the future.
At the same time, the homogeneity of the one-time luxury experience that you can live with your bag is still serious. From camp decoration styles, entertainment projects, to picnics, etc., without any differentiation experience, you can only fight price wars to maintain old customers, which has had a negative impact on the entire industry.
comprehensively, based on the strong driving force on the market demand side, merchants entered the market to compete for the "money prospects", but it also exposed the chaos of wild growth. How to establish brand barriers and better retain customers is a question that practitioners need to think about today.
What inspirations can foreign camping industry bring
European and American camping culture has been popular for a hundred years, the industry is more mature, and the scale is much larger than that in China.
Shi Zhengnan told Titanium Media App: "The penetration rate of camping in Europe and the United States is very high. 70 million people can play at least once a year. In terms of infrastructure, there are only about 2,000 camps in China, and there are about 30,000 American camps alone, which is better than that in China." According to statistics from the online data website Statista, in 2019, the market revenue of camping camps in the United States (including camper van land) reached US$7.92 billion, or approximately RMB 52 billion. According to iMedia Consulting , the domestic camping camp market size may reach 35.46 billion yuan in 2022. Comparison of the two data of
shows that the domestic market still has a lot of room for development. In terms of the business model of
, the way to camping in Europe and the United States is the resort-based national park, which provides a good breeding ground for the breeding of business formats. For example, Richmond North / Kings Dominion KOA campground in Doswell, USA is 1 km from Kings Dominion Amusement Park. It offers a seasonal outdoor pool and barbecue facilities. It is one of the top 10 recommended campgrounds in the United States.
Richmond North / Kings Dominion KOA, picture source @Booking official website
According to Titanium Media App, the camp is operated by American camping giant KOA, and has a history of 50 years of development. Data shows that the KOA campsite chain is located in the North American continent, with more than 500 campsites and more than 60,000 campsites. It is the largest campsite chain enterprise in the North American continent. The improvement of camp facilities and play projects in
is an important weight to attract tourists. In each KOA camp, there will be camping spaces, wooden houses, cable TV, bicycle rental, bonfires, mini golf, swimming pool, fishing, boating, wireless network and other projects to meet the personalized needs of tourists.
It is understood that all KOA camps have guard patrol areas on the periphery of all camps, and fences are also used to protect them from the outer side to prevent dangerous animals from getting close to harming tourists and allowing them to play the project with peace of mind.
At the same time, based on the huge consumer group, you only need $24 a year to enjoy KOA membership services. KOA also provides RV rental and regular and irregular discounts. In particular, KOA has also formed an online community to facilitate members to understand information and communicate with fellow friends.
In addition, KOA adopts a franchise system to expand its camp, which has both strict requirements for brand franchisees and generous profit temptations.According to Titanium Media App, KOA has a Kamp Sight registration and reservation software specifically for camp reservation systems, which facilitates the KOA Group to provide unified management and services to franchisees.
The camps everywhere and a series of high-quality services have built KOA's moat and made it an unbearable industry giant.
Of course, copying the business path of KOA is not advisable. Take RV camping as an example. In 2015, more than 8.5 million people in the United States used RVs, and almost every 10 families with cars owned a RV. It has become a habit for Americans to drive it to camp, and entering KOA camp also saves additional RV rental costs. However, in China, RVs are still new, the entry threshold is not low, and the imperfection of relevant policies and regulations has also caused RV self-driving to encounter difficulties such as difficulty in registering and starting the road.
Fortunately, my country has a lot of tourism resources, and you can drive around the city for vacation and leisure. Some travel agencies also provide long-distance self-driving camping services. What's more, domestic resorts and cultural and tourism real estate projects are numerous, and "camp projects" can be added to generate income. To a certain extent, it also solves the problem of high RV thresholds and sparse domestic camps.
Shi Zhengnan told Titanium Media App that has different development paths due to the different domestic and foreign industrial environments.
"For example, the difference in educational philosophy is like that. In European and American countries, instilling natural education concepts in young people since childhood, participating in activities in camps, and exercising their own skills. It enters public life through an outdoor survival experience. Asia is different, and it prefers the experience of exquisite camping." He said.
developed the Japanese and Korean brand of "exquisite camping" earlier, which is more reference value to domestic practitioners.
For example, Japanese outdoor sports brand Snow Peak, Osaka outdoor camping brand DOD, the former extends from camping to lifestyle. In addition to producing and selling outdoor lifestyle-related products, it also operates multiple self-operated camping sites, and its business involves luxury camping, natural lifestyle resorts, business consulting, micro-houses, real estate and other fields; the latter focuses on fashion and trendy design and affordable price positioning, especially core category tents, which have achieved convenient construction and convenient disassembly, and has continuously designed and developed tents with multiple camping needs, becoming a brand recognized and consumed by young people. It also opened its first self-operated camping site DOD CAMP PARK KYOTO in April this year, seizing the minds of consumers by approaching brands close to each other.
Image source @DOD official website
A number of domestic camping equipment brands also use the concept of creating a lifestyle brand to expand their business lines. What lacks the most is technology accumulation and brand precipitation. It is still time for the explosion of .
Titanium Media App noticed that domestic policies are also continuing to guide the development of outdoor and camping industries, and the trend of compliance is becoming increasingly obvious.
In June 2021, the "Opinions of the Ministry of Commerce and 17 other departments on Strengthening the Construction of County Commercial Systems and Promoting Rural Consumption" mentioned that it is necessary to develop rural B&B, self-driving resident camps, wooden house camps, tent camps, etc., and improve the supporting facilities for life services.
In October of the same year, Huzhou City held a city-wide symposium on the scenic areaization of camping campsites, and joined forces with the camping company "Hot Wilderness" to issue four documents, including the "Huzhou City Campsites Scenic Area Construction and Service Standards" in China, which is also the first standard system for the camping industry.
"The combination of cultural tourism and camping industry is very high. As far as I know, relevant departments including the Cultural Tourism Bureau, Rural Agriculture Bureau, Public Security Fire Protection, Safety Supervision Bureau, etc. are also actively promoting the development of the camping industry." Shi Zhengnan told Titanium Media App.
It is worth noting that after the camping fire, some B&B operators have also developed camping business to increase occupancy rates and expand their income sources. Shi Zhengnan said that it is not a necessity for people living in tents, but the interaction between people and nature is a necessity. The functionality of B&B and hotels is still "staying", while camping is about enjoying building space, socializing, and getting close to nature. There is no competitive relationship between the two, but more of a complementary relationship.
Whether the rising camping trend in China can promote the normal development of the camping economy remains to be seen, but most practitioners still want to do a long-term business.
"I think camping will maintain a rapid growth of at least 3 to 5 years. And as people's understanding of camping deepens, a camping that can go on the weekend will become a very natural way of life, which is also something that countries such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea have experienced." Lotte said optimistically. (This article was first published on Titanium Media App, author | Liu Muzong)
