Veneto is increasingly the Italian capital of “glamping”, a rapidly growing phenomenon as a form of outdoor holiday, especially among foreigners arriving from Northern Europe. The word derives from the portmanteau of the two English words “glamour” and “camping”, and can be translated into “luxury campsites”, i.e. those equipped with top services, starting from the mobile home equipped with bathroom and air conditioning up to the swimming pools .
In Veneto the leading areas for this type of camping are found in Cavallino (VE) and on Lake Garda (VR), particularly appreciated by those who love living in contact with nature but without giving up comfort. Furthermore, at the end of 2023, Cavallino became the first Italian beach, surpassing Rimini, with 6.8 million holidaymakers. In short, “glamping” is part of the evolution of classic camping, which is the second form of tourism in Italy after hotels and is worth a whopping six billion in turnover, for around 2,600 structures. Glamping concerns the high end of this tourism, with four and five star campsites, with fully equipped houses and mobile homes, swimming pools, professional entertainment for age groups, catering, security and daily cleaning . «Glamping is worth about half of the turnover of outdoor tourism», explains the president of Faita Federcamping Alberto Granzotto, «and, of this, one and a half billion euros is the prerogative of Veneto. It is a phenomenon that has established itself in recent years and which sees strong presences even outside the classic July and August, going from Easter to October. It very much meets the mentality of Northern European tourism and France is the continental leader. Veneto, on the other hand, is the national leader with around 200 “top” structures, with Cavallino and Lake Garda which alone are worth a third of the national market. Cavallino, then, has the greatest concentration of accommodation facilities with the highest quality.”
A fact confirmed by the fact that the provinces of Venice and Verona show above average investments in mobile homes. A structure in these provinces has, respectively, 124 and 77 mobile homes for camping, against the national average of 24. The space used index then indicates that lake destinations have the highest concentration of accommodation units per 1,000 m2 (7.4 ).
Friuli Venezia Giulia, however, is in first place if we take into consideration the camping phenomenon in general, with a record given by the average surface area occupied by the structures, i.e. 89,214 square metres, and the beds per thousand square metres, 12.5 . As regards the distribution of the offer, it is mainly concentrated in the territorial areas of Udine and Lignano Sabbiadoro, Gorizia and Grado Aquileia. In fact, in these two territories, over 60% of the campsites and tourist villages in the region are located, which concentrate 82% of the availability of open-air beds.
On Lake Garda, open air is worth over 45% of the total tourist flow and proves to be the most sustainable in the Triveneto, above all thanks to the self-production of energy from renewable sources and the use of green energy. Data from Faita Federcamping also says that in spring-autumn 2024, the average occupancy of the solutions offered on the lake should rise by 3.4%. «Glamping» concludes Granzotto «also stands out for the average length of stay, more than ten days, and for the added value it brings to the area on which it is located».
