Legal base formed for glamping in Türkiye
Umut Erdem – ANKARA
Glamping, also known as “vacationing in luxurious tents,” is an important tourism alternative and Türkiye has established the legal base for it, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has said.
Answering a motion sent to the parliament about the ministry’s activities on camping sites for “luxurious tents and caravans,” Ersoy said, a related law came into force on July 28, 2021.
“The works to implement the law is ongoing,” the minister added.
According to Ersoy, the ministry will supply an “elementary accommodation certificate” to the glamping investors.
The western province of İzmir is a pilot region, and works to promote such tourism alternatives in the city are in progress, the minister highlighted.
The law says the glamping sites should be totally “nature friendly.” Business owners may offer “luxurious tents” located on wooden platforms, with no infrastructures.
“Glamping has an enormous potential in Türkiye,” Kemal Birdir, an academic from Mersin University said and added: “A sector with which we expect a huge expansion with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The number of caravans in Türkiye has risen fivefold,” Oğuz Tokalak, the deputy head of Türkiye Camping and Caravanning Association, said and added: “Glamping sites or camping sites with luxurious tents are mostly of interest to the hotel owners.”
Glamping is a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping.” It has become popular with 21st century tourists seeking the luxuries of hotel accommodation alongside the “escapism and adventure recreation of camping.”
