Airbnb, Viviun and HomeAway are three of the various online platforms used by property owners in Costa Rica to offer their homes for short-term rentals to foreign visitors. A similar business model is being offered by gamping.com, a new site that is being advertised as a sort of “Airbnb for campers.” Gamping is a portmanteau of “garden” and “camping,” and this tourism lodging practice is exactly what is sounds like: Renting out your patio or garden for tourists to pitch their tents on.

 

Although Costa Rica listings on gamping.com are currently limited to just one; however, it seems to be a great deal for campers, lovers of the outdoors or recreational vehicle (RV) owners for just $10 a day. Here’s the description of the service by the operators of gamping.com:

 

Property owners with outdoor spaces now have an additional way to generate some income, by advertising their plot on gamping.com.

 

Gamping is an alternative to professional campsites and only allows individual property owners to register. For travelers, this alternative lodging method offers a wider range of places to set up camp at reasonable prices.

 

The Story Behind the gamping.com Concept

 

Joseph loves camping. However, he finds it difficult to take a shower when he is out in nature.

 

One summer evening when he had just returned from a camping trip, he found himself stuck at his doorstep without his keys. He ended up camping out in his garden, and that night proved to be the best one of his trip, and so he had an idea: Why not camp in gardens?

 

What Joseph lacked at the time was a directory of people willing to accommodate campers. A year later, gamping.com was created.

 

The gamping.com Business Model

 

Sophie has a large plot of land.

 

She would love to make a little money to buy that new dress she has dreamed about for months. Gamping.com allows Sophie to make a little money and make great friendships, while helping out campers passing through her region.

 

Matthew wants to spend the holidays in the countryside with his family. The overcrowding of campsites bothers him and the insecurity of camping out in the wild scares him. Gamping.com offers Matthew affordable and friendly accommodation, where he can enjoy nature with his family in total safety.

 

The Costa Rica Star asked social media marketing author and business consultant Philip Mack for his opinion on gamping as a business, and he told us the following:

 

It looks like a pretty neat idea that could certainly be leveraged with social media marketing on visual discovery networks such as Pinterest and Instagram. It is not clear at this time if such marketing efforts would be taken on by the online platform or by the property owners who list their patios and backyards. I think the best gamping.com could hope for at this moment would be a future acquisition by Airbnb or a competitor thereof.