About
Glamping Advisors combine more than five decades of experience in tourism, hospitality, real estate, and glamping – to a large part gathered in Portugal. We know the business and happily support yours.
Advisors
Lars Schäfer, Managing Partner
Lars has worked in tourism for over two decades. One of them for TUI Group, where he was responsible for the Group’s business development projects and Managing Director for Portugal. He acquired consulting experience through international strategy consulting.
Remembering campervan trips with his wife and children, surprise snowstorms outside the tent while hiking with friends and the first night sleeping outside as a child in “the great wild nature” of his parents’ garden, he realized that outdoor experiences always made an impression in life. As in midlife some comfort is appreciated, Glamping sounded like a plan.
A Glamping concept for a Portuguese hotel chain cemented the idea and led to the creation of Glamping Advisors, based on data and the derived conviction that this is the hospitality segment with the greatest future, margins and friendly customers.
Lars focusses on business development and strategic partnerships for Glamping Advisors and is the primary point of contact for our clients.
Luís Pedro Carmo Costa, Partner
After more than 25 years as a founding partner of neoturis, Luís Pedro Carmo Costa has started a new project as an independent consultant in tourism and hospitality.
Throughout his career, he has participated in and coordinated hundreds of projects for public and private entities, including Turismo de Portugal, ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, and groups such as Sonae, Pestana, and TUI, in Portugal and international markets.
In addition to mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions, he has carried out projects in Brazil, Angola, China, and several European countries. His academic background includes a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto and the Hotel Management and Techniques Course from the Porto School of Hospitality and Tourism.
He began his career at Deloitte Consulting and later joined the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Towers as a revenue manager and market analyst, consolidating an approach that combines strategic vision, real knowledge of the operation, and financial rigor.
Not being a big fan of “traditional” camping, he fell in love with glamping 15 years ago in South Africa, near Port Elizabeth. Since then, he has had the opportunity to experience glamping concepts in various destinations and study the business and opportunities that accompany this concept. In addition, he is also an expert in wine tourism and believes in the opportunity to bring together the concepts of glamping and wine tourism.
His experience covers all phases of project development — from market analysis and concept definition to economic viability and operational performance. He supports investors, promoters and operators in making more informed decisions and creating solid, sustainable and economically viable tourism projects.
Carsten Bengelsdorff, Partner
Carsten has been working in the international tourism industry for over 25 years and is experienced with a wide range of topics along the tourism value chain. As an enthusiastic outdoor sportsman, he accompanied cycling, hiking and ski tours in many countries before co-founding the Chilean incoming tour operator travelArt in 1994 – which has come to be the market leader for high-quality tours to Chile and neighbouring South American countries for German-speaking source markets. After the sale of travelArt in 2018, Carsten has chosen South Tyrol as a new base for his professional activities, from where he currently works as a consultant for sustainable tourism projects in various countries.
Carsten’s enthusiasm for sustainable nature-based tourism has led him to Glamping Advisors. He is excited to contribute with his expertise and network to the growth of the European glamping industry – primarily in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Tyrol. Carsten’s consulting focus will be inter alia on the cross-sectional topic sustainability.
Associates
Edward Busby, Glamping Expert UK
Edward is passionate about the outdoors. After working in the woods as a forester and arborist, Edward set up Crown & Canopy, initially designing and building small scale glamping retreats using locally sourced timber milled on their own site. After building and running retreats for 6 years, Edward now oversees the consultancy services and manages design projects. The first to offer glamping consultancy service in the UK, Edward has by now worked in four countries. He has a broad knowledge of the sustainable tourism business sector, an understanding of planning and legalities, and an overall perspective of the Glamping industry.
Edward has worked closely with other leading players of the industry, and now also partners with Glamping Advisors in order to commonly help clients in Portugal & Spain to setup memorable Glamping experiences.
Harald Zeiss, Sustainability Expert
Harald has been working in the tourism industry since 2005. During his career, he has gained experiences in quality management, customer service, product management and product development. In order to follow his true passion, sustainable travels, he worked for many years as head of sustainable development at TUI Germany.
Since 2011, Harald is teaching sustainable tourism at the Harz University of Applied Sciences. His work focuses on the supply chain and rural tourism. He has always been a big promotor of bringing tourism away from the well-known hotspots to the unspoiled destinations. Glamping can be a key element for such a development. It has a low ecological impact and a high social and economic benefit.
Harald will be supporting Glamping Advisors to ensure that the work will be beneficial on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.
Andreas Pospiech, Operations Expert
Andreas has been working in the tourism industry since 1994 and has experienced almost all stages of the tourism value chain (travel agency, airline, tour operator, hotel and tourism consultancy).
For 15 years Andreas worked for the TUI Group where he gained experience in international tourism in the areas of strategy, product development and hotel concepts. For the last 5 years, Andreas was Managing Director of the club brand TUI MAGIC LIFE.
Andreas is an enthusiastic camper himself and has discovered Europe on several road trips in his own converted VW Camper (built in 1990). His private passion for nature and the outdoor experience combined with his professional experience in the high-class holiday hotel industry have brought him to the topic of Glamping, the perfect combination of nature experience and the style and comfort of a 4 or 5 star hotel.
Andreas represents Glamping Advisors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and specialises in Operations and Marketing & Sales in the consulting team.
Pat McCudden, Hospitality Expert
Pat has been working in the international tourism and lodging industry for over 35 years and is experienced primarily in the development of new lodging projects in all sectors of the hospitality space. Pat has largely focused on assisting lodging brands grow their presence in locations where they have limited or no representation.
He was instrumental in launching and subsequently growing Marriott’s presence in the Asia/Pacific region and in growing Hyatt’s presence throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. His most recent experience was in the outdoor lodging industry with AutoCamp and he continues to be active in this space.
Strategic Partners
Shari Heilala, Founder and President, Sage Outdoor Advisory
Sage Outdoor Advisory is a strategic partner and the premier outdoor hospitality consulting firm in the Americas.
Sage specialises in feasibility studies, appraisals, and custom market analysis. With over 350 projects completed, they are the American leaders in serving developers and owners of outdoor hotels, glamping resorts, RV resorts and marinas.
Leveraging the world’s largest proprietary glamping database, they provide extensive key data-driven insights to guide investment and development.
With Glamping Advisors’ partnership, Sage champions both visionary thinking and financial discipline — ensuring projects are inspiring and investable.
Associations
Previous Projects
Glamping Advisors has worked with clients from around the world to ensure the success of their projects. Below is a selection of some of the promotors we’ve worked with in the past.
In the Media
