Travellers will be living a life more wild with forest stays, outdoor bathing and group getaways, says Canopy & Stars’ trends report.
Canopy & Stars predicts that more people than ever before will discover a ‘life more wild’ in 2020 as the appetite for glamping holidays shows no sign of slowing down[i]. After seeing a 30 per cent increase in forward bookings for next year, our team has crunched the numbers, spoken to guests and owners and hunted out the biggest trends in outdoor holidays for 2020.
The staycation is here to stay
Staycations are no longer a nice add-on to our yearly plans, they’re now a major part of how us Brits holiday. 90 per cent of Canopy & Stars’ bookings in 2019 were for the UK, and 52 per cent of consumers are now planning to take most or all of their holidays in the UK[ii]. As British breaks play a bigger part in our calendar, we’re also booking them increasingly earlier. Canopy & Stars reports a 30 per cent increase in forward bookings for 2020 versus this time last year.
With so many places to discover on the British Isles we predict that in 2020 people will be searching out new areas and experiences, with trending destinations including the North East and the Midlands[iii]. Some of our most exciting new places that we expect to be big hits next year are Alnmouth Huts in Northumberland and Knotting Hill Barn House in Leicestershire.
Group getaways
Booking a break is one of our favourite ways to celebrate, with over 50 per cent of Canopy & Stars’ bookings in 2019 made for a special occasion. We’ve seen a 40 per cent increase in people searching for places that can cater for 10+ guests and predict that this trend will continue to grow as people look for spaces that can comfortably accommodate their friends and family.
Some of our most popular group spaces include Rufus’s Roost in Yorkshire, a treehouse for up to six, and The Lost Garden Retreat in Sussex which can accommodate up to 24 in four luxury safari tents.
Birthdays are the most popular reason to book, but they’re not the only reason to celebrate. There’s no better way to escape the pre-wedding stress than with an off-grid escape, and we have seen a 107 per cent increase in traffic to the Canopy & Stars hen parties collection as ‘bride-tribes’ ditch the deely-boppers and discos in favour of nature retreats.
Forest stays
We’ve been talking about the benefits of getting outside for 10 years, but 2020 will be the year that travellers want to be closer to nature than ever before. Google has shown that searches for ‘Forest Holidays’ has grown by 55 per cent[iv] as people tap into the wealth of wellness benefits associated with spending time in nature.
We predict that glamping in the UK’s national parks will be one of the biggest trends in 2020; searches for old favourites like the Lake District have risen by 50 per cent in 2019, but we have also seen an increase in searches for the New Forest (+99 per cent), Snowdonia (+92 per cent) and the Brecon Beacons (+75 per cent).
Head to The Lodge on the edge of the Lake District or Lost Meadow Treepod on Bodmin Moor to feel fully immersed amongst the trees.
Travel gives back
We’re in the middle of a climate crisis and consumers are demanding more ecological awareness and action; latest statistics from YouGov show that concern for the environment is at the highest level on record[v]. At Canopy & Stars we have a lot to thank nature for so we think it’s important to give back. We have pledged to plant a tree for every booking through our partnership with Treesisters and have an ambition to plant one million trees in the next five years.
By its very nature, glamping is already ahead of the game when it comes to sustainability and some of our favourite eco-friendly places include Devon Dens, where owners Ben and Jo have built their cabins from local timber and rewilded the land where they sit, and The Woodcock which is totally off-grid on a carbon neutral farm.
Types of spaces to watch
2019 was the year of the Great British treehouse; our UK treehouse collection has grown by 77 per cent in the last 18 months. Spaces have become even more luxurious and unique with features such as the flowing wooden headboard and hot tub on the deck at Woodland Chase, or magical fairy-inspired interiors at Faraway Treehouse. With more treehouses than ever to choose from, we are predicting that there’s no better time to head to the trees and stay in one of these amazing structures.
Glamping has evolved from its early days of canvas and summer seasons; people are looking for spaces that go beyond the expected and they can book year-round. For the first time we have launched a collection of bothies on Canopy & Stars, after seeing an increased interest in stone structures from our guests. These spaces have proven to be some of our most booked places in 2019 and we predict that this will only grow into next year.
With people choosing to stay close to home, guests are looking for more than just a place to stay; they want more excitement and elements of play that connect them to the great outdoors. One of our guests’ favourite activities is outdoor bathing. Views of our hot tub collection have risen by over 50 per cent this year, and while wood-fired hot tubs continue to be the most popular we are seeing an increased interest in outdoor baths and showers too.
About Canopy & Stars
Canopy & Stars inspects and selects the most inspiring places to stay in the great outdoors, for those in search of a life more wild. Our mission is to inspire people to connect with nature through meaningful experiences, have a positive impact on the environment, and to care about the people we work with. We have over 700 inspiring places to stay in nature, from a human-sized beehive, to floating cabins on the water, to isolated bothies in the wilds of Scotland. www.canopyandstars.co.uk
Footnotes
[i] Google Trends results for the term ‘Glamping’ from January 2009 – October 2019:
[ii] From Barclay’s ‘Great British Staycation’ report, June 2019: https://www.barclayscorporate.com/content/dam/barclayscorporate-com/documents/insights/industry-expertise/HL-report-staycation.pdf
[iii] Data from www.canopyandstars.co.uk (October 2018 – October 2019): Searches for Northumberland are +116% YOY, searches for Leicestershire are +400% YOY, searches for Nottinghamshire are +170% YOY and searches for Yorkshire are +70% YOY
[iv] Think with Google report, June 2019: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/summer-holiday-trends-travellers-go-back-nature-and-back-time
[v] YouGov report, June 2019: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/06/05/concern-environment-record-highs
