the luxury camping market | France

1.1 Definition and scope of study

Camping, or open-air hotel, means a tourist activity which consists of living in the open air in a tent, caravan or motor home or other similar accommodation. A campsite is thus a camping ground but there are also other types of camping, such as wilderness camping or home camping.

The activity of the campsites is recorded under the following NAF code :

• 55.30Z : Campgrounds and parks for caravans or recreational vehicles

A campground can be classified as a campground under the mention Tourism or Leisure .

• The mention  Tourism applies when more than half of the pitches are intended for overnight, weekly or monthly rentals for a visiting clientele.
• The mention Leisure  applies when more than half of the pitches are intended to be rented for more than one month by customers who do not take up residence there.

There are 2 categories of classified campgrounds: campgrounds at stars (from 1 to 5 stars) and campgrounds natural area .

The high-end campsites thus refer to campsites having 4 or 5 stars .

The French camping market is growing strongly and has experienced a 15% increase in attendance between 2011 and 2019 thus reaching 129 million overnight stays in 2019 . The increase in the sector's turnover was driven in particular by the quality upgrading of the market in response to growing customer demand for ever greater comfort. As a result, campsites are being modernised, gaining in comfort and the share of high-end campsites (4 and 5 stars) in the French campsite fleet is increasing.

Top-of-the-range campsites s are indeed becoming increasingly important in the French offering, due to changes in he expectations of the French, who now demand comfort and service but also by broadening the offer to include new and original proposals. Camping today is no longer just about staying outdoors in a tent, as was the case a few years ago.