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.
Besides the international experience of our partners, we also work with a global network of highly skilled associates. We are thus covering all relevant specialties for the successful setup of glamping operations.
Lars has worked in tourism for two decades. One of them for TUI Group, where he was responsible for the Group’s business development projects and Managing Director for Portugal. Consulting experience was acquired in international strategy consulting. But that was enough time in a suit and tie.
The urge for a change to something more heart felt grew. Remembering camper van 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. However, being your own target customer is too little foundation to start a business.
It was due to a Glamping concept done for a Portuguese hotel chain – thanks Pedro, Marta and Antonio for the great collaboration! – that Lars took the decision to create Glamping Advisors… based on data and the derived conviction that this is the hospitality segment with greatest future, fun, fat margins and friendly customers. And with the nicest partners to work with.
Lars focusses on business development and strategic partnerships for Glamping Advisors and is the primary point of contact for our clients.
Eden Flaherty
Partner
Eden entered the world of Glamping when he co-founded and ran a glamping site in the Shropshire region of the United Kingdom. Working from the ground up, he took a hands-on approach to the construction of a converted bus and shepherd’s hut, as well as the required infrastructure. In addition to the practical aspects, he was also responsible for helping to build a sustainable business model in this burgeoning area of the tourism market. This led to another project which diversified an existing glamping offering into a niche “after-market” extra, which successfully expanded the project internationally and pushed Eden further into the communications side of the business.
He continued to draw from his practical experience in niche hospitality to work in communications for a range of projects, many of which are based in tourism in both Europe and further afield. This includes being the Portugal correspondent for leading trade publication International Glamping Business.
Now, as part of Glamping Advisors, he is leveraging his knowledge and skills of this growing sector to help glamping businesses in Portugal and Spain with a focus on Operations and Communication.
Luís Pedro Carmo Costa
Partner
A partner of neoturis, his experience in this sector, since 1994, includes work for the Portuguese Tourism Board.
The majority of his projects cover components such as market analysis (surroundings, supply and demand), definition of concepts, development and marketing strategies, economic-financial viability analyses and operational review. In addition to mainland Portugal and the Islands, he has undertaken projects in Brazil, Angola, China and several European countries. He holds a degree in Economy from the Faculty of Economy at the University of Porto and a Course in Hotel Management and Techniques from the Porto School of Hotel Management and Tourism.
Not being a great fan of “traditional” camping, he fell in love with glamping 10 years ago in South Africa near Port Elizabeth. Since then, he had the opportunity to experience glamping concepts in various destinations and to study the business and opportunities that come with this concept. Furthermore, he is also an expert in wine tourism and believes in the opportunity of putting a glamping and a wine tourism concept together.
Edward Busby
Founder and Partner Crown and Canopy
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
Professor for Sustainability and International Tourism
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.