Choosing an advisor
Glamping Consultants: What They Do and How to Choose One
Glamping advice comes from very different places — unit manufacturers, marketers, planners, and firms that have actually built and run properties. Knowing which kind you are hiring matters more than any credential on the website.
The short answer
A glamping consultant helps decide whether a glamping project works, then how to site, build and run it: feasibility and achievable rate, unit type and mix, siting and site planning, four-season capability, permitting reality, and the operating model. The strongest advisors cover all of it, because in glamping the site, the units and the operating math are a single decision.
What the work actually covers
- Feasibility and financial strategy
- Market review, achievable nightly rate, unit count, development cost and a multi-year pro forma a lender can read.
- Site planning and siting
- Where units go for privacy, view and arrival experience, how paths, utilities and services reach them, and how many the land supports at that spacing.
- Unit type and mix selection
- Safari tents, yurts, domes, cabins and park models weighed on cost, lifespan, maintenance, rate ceiling and four-season capability — not on catalog appeal.
- Design and architecture
- Platforms and decks, bathhouses or private bathrooms, arrival and check-in buildings, amenity spaces, and accessibility.
- Construction strategy
- Contractor and bid review, phasing, value engineering, and owner representation through build-out.
- Operations and revenue
- Rate and occupancy strategy, housekeeping and turnover, staffing, amenity mix, guest experience and — where needed — interim resort management.
Questions worth asking any glamping consultant
- Have you operated an outdoor hospitality property, or only advised on one?
- Can you take a project from raw land through site plan, construction and opening?
- Do you sell units, or are you independent of the unit manufacturers?
- Will you show me built work I can look at and clients I can call?
- Will your pro forma show me its assumptions, so I can argue with them?
- What would make you tell me not to do this project?
Where RDBA sits
RDBA Outdoor Consulting, formerly Ron D. Beard & Associates, is an outdoor hospitality advisory practice based in Austin, Texas, working across the United States, including Alaska, and in Canada. Ron D. Beard is an architect, developer and operator with more than three decades focused on outdoor hospitality and hundreds of projects consulted on.
That combination is the point. Architecture, land planning, financial modeling, construction management, ownership and day-to-day resort operations sit with one advisor, so a project does not have to be handed between specialists who each optimize their own piece.
Ron is a member of the American Glamping Association, the Outdoor Hospitality Industry association and the Texas Association of Campground Owners, and has been invited to present at Glamping Show Americas. Named built work includes Camp Margaritaville RV Resort in Auburndale, Florida, Haven Hills Campground & Resort, Denali Hotel & RV Village in Alaska, Desert's Edge RV Village, Keylime Bay and properties in the Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park system.
How an engagement starts
- A no-cost Zoom or phone call about the property and what stage it is at.
- A look at comparable past work so you can judge the fit.
- A frank conversation about budget.
- A defined scope, so you know what you are getting before you commit.
Common questions
Do I need a glamping consultant if I already own a campground?
If you are adding cabins, yurts, tents or domes, the decisions that matter — placement, unit mix, four-season use, servicing and staffing load — are made before anything is ordered, and they are difficult to reverse afterwards. That is where advice pays for itself.
Is a glamping consultant the same as a glamping unit supplier?
No. A supplier sells units and has a legitimate interest in which units you buy. An independent consultant is paid to decide whether units are the right answer at all, and if so which type at which count.
Does RDBA work with first-time developers?
Yes. Projects have ranged from small family-run properties through large resort developments. First-time clients usually need the economics tested and the plan sequenced; experienced developers usually want a second set of eyes from someone who has also operated the asset class.
Where does RDBA work?
Engagements run nationwide across the United States, including Alaska, and in Canada, from a base in Austin, Texas. Site visits are part of most planning, turnaround and due-diligence work.
How RDBA Outdoor Consulting helps
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Next step
Get an experienced outside view of the whole project.
Before you buy, build, expand or invest more into an underperforming property, talk it through with someone who has planned, built and operated these businesses.