Price versus service assessment in glamping

The study intends to assess whether the importance of the attribute “service” increases according to the value that the camper is willing to pay in a glamping unit in Oporto Metropolitan Area. This objective lies in the need to redefine the offer of camping, as a form of tourism based on the specific interest of nature and determined by the temporary and movable enforceability of the accommodation facilities, which leads to a natural evolution, from its basic and humble approach, to become a valued tourist experience (Brooker and Joppe, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 20, 335–351, 2014). In the Oporto Metropolitan Area, camping is represented by 12 campsites, in which the study takes place, which intends to identify the importance attributed to a new concept. The concept of glamping reduces the negative effects identified by some camping users by keeping all the positive charge that coats it. The most important trend in the development of camping tourism is the ever-increasing choice of the concept of glamping (Cerović, Innovative management of camping accommodation, 13 OP-H, 55, 2014). The camping offer, suffering the impacts of the major European trends, is moving towards differentiation and rediscovery of new market segments. In increasingly urbanized societies, where lifestyles are complex and individualized, the time spent in a simple way in communion with nature is becoming increasingly a trend. Combined with this reality, the typical nostalgia of camping that appeals to the simple lifestyle, but with the possibility of meeting with nature and with other campers is requiring more and more comfort and sophistication in the facilities. Innovation and differentiation are the main strategies for this “product” to escape from the declining phase where it is located. Data was collected through an original questionnaire, obtaining a convenient sample of 201 campers. The results obtained confirm that the importance attributed to the service of a glamping unit increases according to the value that the camper is willing to pay.