An exploratory analysis of the camping industry as a provider of attractive resources. The case of outdoor hospitality parks (OHPs) in unattractive regions

The outdoor hospitality sector is growing faster than other type of tourist accommodations. Camping are delivering an intense competition by investing each year on new resources such as accommodations or leisure equipments. As a consequence, a high level of competitiveness and performance is necessary to attract and retain consumers. Since this decade, some contributions appear in hospitality management review which investigate camping profitability. In that context, articles used leisure and accommodation attributes without always justifying its specific choice rather than other multiple alternatives. This article proposes to discover which leisure and accommodation attributes were previously used in camping research. After what, this contribution organizes and classifies each attribute into criterion. That gives a first way to assess camping competitiveness through available data. From theory to practice, this research assesses if current literature review is well-grounded within this particular sector.

Automated summary

The outdoor hospitality sector, particularly camping, is experiencing rapid growth and intense competition, requiring high levels of competitiveness and performance to attract and retain consumers. Studies in hospitality management are examining camping profitability through the use of leisure and accommodation attributes, organizing and classifying these attributes to assess competitiveness. This research aims to evaluate the grounding of current literature reviews in the camping sector.