By Leon Juffermans, Founder, Glamxperience Australia
Metung Hot Springs (Victoria, Australia). Sitting in original wine barrels, filled with geothermal mineral water.
In 2010, at Europe’s biggest outdoor hospitality fair my company Luxetenten.com (currently Yala Canvas Lodges) introduced a fully equipped glamping safari tent. Until then, tents were for campsites. Cabins and bungalows were “real” accommodation. It was an instant hit. Over the next decade Europe embraced diversification. Today, the annual SETT fair in France has three entire halls filled with glamping products, a testament to how far that first wave travelled.
My wife Sandra and I moved to Australia in 2016 and founded Glamxperience and Amuma Living Furniture. The aim was to build unique glamping resorts, live in the greatest outdoor country in the world, and connect with Asia — the region we believe will define the future of experiential tourism.
That future is what we call Glamping 2.0.
It is no longer just about “cool accommodation”. The premium guest today seeks reconnection with nature, loved ones, and themselves. They want authenticity, bonding moments, and healing. Operators who deliver this emotional value will lead the next decade.
Glamping 2.0 asks different questions:
- How do we make guests feel like temporary locals?
- What health and wellness experiences elevate their stay?
- Which moments create real human connection?
Saunas under the forest canopy, magnesium therapies, cold plunges, communal fires, local storytelling, architecture that breathes with the landscape, these are not extras. They are the new core of outdoor lodging.
“Europe pioneered diversification. Asia Pacific will pioneer transformation.”
Our region is authentic, adventurous, and deeply connected to land and culture. By combining forces, operators, suppliers, designers, and associations such as APOLA, we can shape the next era of experiential accommodation.
“Glamping 1.0 changed how we sleep. Glamping 2.0 will change how we feel.”
Currajong Retreat(New South Wales, Australia). A Glamping Safari Tent on the edge of a cliff on a working sheep farm.
