At Le Domaine du Clarys campsite, there's a very popular spot for vacationers: the communal barbecue. Surrounded by picnic tables, this brazier is a rallying point for families, who come here to brown their kebabs, while the kids climb a play structure several meters high, with trampolines galore. "People love this place. It's friendly, everyone mingles," said Stefanja Kuipers, manager of this "five-star" vacation spot in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, western France.
It's a way of keeping the camping spirit alive, at a time when vacationers are no longer as close to their neighbors as they were in the days of tents and caravans. At Clarys, in fact, there are none left. Vacationers – up to 2,000 at the height of summer – spread out among the 600 mobile homes lined up as if in a small town. In August, these mini-homes (generally from 20 to 40 square meters) rent for between €1,500 and €2,000 a week, on this estate that boasts several swimming pools and playgrounds, a mini-farm, an arcade and a stage for shows.
"I had some preconceived ideas about camping, but in fact it's a great place to stay. Before, we used to go on vacation to Italy, Portugal... With the kids, the slides, it's great, it gives us time to breathe," explained Emilie, a nursery assistant who was renting a mobile home at Domaine du Clarys at the beginning of April. She paid €300 for a basic mini-home, but was upgraded to a top-comfort category after a mishap with the cleaning on arrival.
"We don't let anything go by, and we've reaped the consequences," admitted the manager. The reputation of the group and the brand is at stake. Domaine du Clarys belongs to the European Camping Group (ECG), a company based in Aix-en-Provence (southern France) and which owns 105 campsites in Europe (under the Marvila and Tohapi brands), as well as mobile homes in 300 different campsites. Bought out in 2021 by the French fund PAI Partners, ECG, which had sales of €700 million by 2023, has just taken on as CEO Sébastien Manceau, a former partner at Roland Berger and graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.
In other words, the world of camping has changed. In the space of a few years, this world of small landowners has undergone a major wave of buyouts and restructurings, which has accompanied their move upmarket. Companies such as Capfun and Sandaya have acquired dozens of sites to bring them under their brands and make major investments, particularly in giant water parks. Franchises have proliferated, and venture capital funds are helping to grow booming businesses such as Camping Paradis, Siblu and Ciela. The sector is expected to reach sales of €3.8 billion by 2023, compared with €1 billion in the early 2000s. And all this despite the fact that the number of campsites in France has fallen – town planning regulations make it virtually impossible to create new ones.
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