Madrid, May 6 (EFECOM).- Taiga, a camping company that seeks to become a reference in the sector, has invested 50 million euros in five establishments and has a desire to expand to form a large group in a very fragmented segment.
The 50 million, already disbursed, include investments in five accommodations, which have undergone a repositioning process, with the ambition of becoming a benchmark for the sector, under the ‘campin resort’ concept.
Agustín Medina, partner along with Borja de la Rica of the Colima investment fund, has explained to EFE that with this project they seek to be a benchmark in number of establishments in the next 3-5 years, in positioning, image, brand, and experience.
Taiga’s partners are about 30 businessmen, who control more than 50%, and Colima’s shareholders enter to professionalize the sector, by incorporating technology to improve management processes and the configuration of professionalized teams.
The idea is to address the problem of generational change, in a sector where currently the majority of establishments belong to families, who “have done very well” but do not have professionalized teams.
The challenge, adds Medina, is “knowing how to locate ourselves well”, maintaining the essence of the destinations, and choosing appropriate accommodations.
The group, which has a permanent staff of about one hundred people, hopes to add one or two more establishments to Taiga before the summer and has acquired several, although they are not yet incorporated into the project and is studying more opportunities throughout Spain, where it is exploring different locations. .
In Spain, the sector is very fragmented, with many small owners who have had a single campsite for decades, and it is not common for there to be companies or funds that group together several establishments, as is the case in Europe, where the major private capital leaders have interests in the sector.
European investors “are wanting to enter Spain cautiously” and, in fact, there are European groups with camps here, but Medina understands that in this business it is necessary to know the locations well “because Tarifa is not the same as Almería.”
The French group Yellow Villages has a presence here, with 91 campsites, of which seven are in Spain, especially on the Costa Brava, a destination closely linked to French tourism; and the also French Sandaya, with 64 locations, of which two are in Spain (in the provinces of Girona and Valencia).
Medina explains that they have a “powerful” opening plan, with “a long journey,” which includes owned establishments and others for rent.
The Taiga ‘resorts’ are in Conil and Tarifa (Cádiz), in Almería playa, in the Ebro Delta (Tarragona) and in Caspe (Zaragoza).
Taiga managers intend to manage accommodations “as the best hotel chains in the world do”, attracting customers through their website and working with tour operators and reservation portals, among others.
They aim to increase the number of travelers who choose this option, since in Spain only 6% of the population is a camper user compared to 80% of the Dutch, according to the figures managed by Medina.
In Spain, a deseasonalization process is already taking place, in line with what happens with European clientele, who use this type of accommodation from October until around Easter, with long stays. From May to September the public is mainly national.
In August 2023 – the month with the highest occupancy – there were 1,244 open campsites, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) with almost 231,300 plots and nearly 766,000 places. EFECOM
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