Most people get into glamping because they love the personal side of it. Welcoming guests when they arrive. Handing over your own local tips instead of a leaflet. Being the reason a stay feels like it was made for them.
Then the phone rings while you're fixing a hot tub, three emails land from people comparing you with the site down the road, and a family is trying to book at 11pm on a Sunday. So where does AI for glamping businesses fit in without taking away the part you love?
That's the question behind episode 45 of the Glamping Show Americas podcast, with host Sarah Riley (Glamping Academy) and our Chief Growth Officer, Todd Sabo. Listen to the full conversation below, or read on for the key takeaways.
AI that takes the load, so you can keep the personal touch
The worry for most hosts is that AI takes the human out of hospitality. The episode makes the opposite case. AI handles the repetitive questions on your website and phone, at any hour, so you and your team get more time face to face with the guests already on site.
AI is a tool to get guests rapid answers to every question they have and convert them into bookings, then free up operators and staff to tend to those guests in person.
Getting started is light. Grevon sits on top of the systems you already use, with nothing to rip out or replace. It learns your property from your website in a few minutes, and you can call Echo, the voice agent, or chat with Pulse, the web travel agent, to test the answers before anything goes live.
It doesn't sound like a bot
Today's voice agents are a long way from "press one for sales". Echo answers naturally in about a second, from your own property details, in the accent and voice you choose. When a caller wants a person, it hands over to you.
Press one for bookings, press two for everything else, then voicemail after 5pm. The late-night caller books somewhere else.
A natural conversation, answered instantly at any hour, trained on your own details, with a handover to you whenever it's needed.
Sell the experience, not just the stay
Guests aren't just booking a dome or a bell tent. They're booking everything around it: the activities, the local restaurants, the tours. Pulse keeps all of that in one conversation on your own website, so guests don't drift off to review sites and social media and get picked up by the site down the road.
- Social proof in one place: your photos, videos, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Google reviews, surfaced right in the chat
- Local know-how: nearby restaurants, national parks and things to do, which it can also email to the guest
- Add-ons and activities: firewood, golf carts, on-site experiences and bookable tours
- Live rates and a real booking: the reservation goes straight into your property management system, and you keep the guest's details
Keeping those guest details matters more in glamping than almost anywhere. Many sites are remote with no reception desk, so the booking is often your only chance to start a relationship with the guest. (More in Direct Bookings Without the OTA.)
Accurate answers, and a clear view of what guests ask
Grevon's agents only answer from your own property information, so they don't guess. Every chat and call is transcribed, and anything the agent couldn't answer is flagged as a gap for you to fill. For pilot properties, this has turned up things they never knew were missing or out of date, like a changed check-in time that was never updated on the website.
Honest about being AI, and still sounding like you
Guests should know when they're talking to AI, and new European Union rules now require it, so Grevon builds that disclosure in. It doesn't have to feel generic: you can name your agent and give it your own brand voice and tone.
The cost of doing nothing
Around 40% of travellers now use AI tools to research and plan trips. The question isn't whether guests are asking AI about places to stay, it's how your property shows up when they do.
Grevon's free AI visibility and bookability report asks the major AI tools about your property and shows where you appear and who is being quoted: your own website, review sites or third-party listings.
It scores you on four pillars: visibility, readability, trust and authority, and bookability.
Three simple first steps: don't block AI from reading your website, get your property information into one place AI can easily read, and check Google Analytics to see whether AI tools are already sending you visitors.
Meet Todd at Glamping Show Americas
Todd is speaking at Glamping Show Americas in Aurora, Colorado. His session, AI in Plain English: Walk Out Knowing What's Real and What Isn't, is on Wednesday, September 30 from 12:00 to 12:45 PM in the Windmill Room. Bring your phone: you can scan a QR code and get your free AI visibility report in a couple of minutes. You can also book a coffee with Todd at the show.
Thanks to Sarah Riley and the Glamping Show Americas team for having us on.
See it on your own website
Pop in your website and within minutes you can call your own voice agent, chat with Pulse and get your free AI visibility report.