Glamping Feasibility Study: Demand, Permits, Utilities and Financing

A glamping feasibility study tells a lender, developer or landowner whether one glamping resort, on one site, can sell enough unit-nights at supportable rates in each month it is open to pay its operating costs and its debt at the coverage the capital source requires. It also tests whether the site can be permitted and serviced for the tents, yurts, domes or cabins planned, because a unit that cannot be licensed, plumbed or insured earns nothing.

Three facts frame the analysis:

• Demand is seasonal and park-driven. Yellowstone took 88.0% of its 2025 recreation visits from May to September, and Acadia's busiest month drew 81.6 times its quietest [1].
• Public data does not count glamping. The 2022 NAICS index has no entry for the term [2]. The closest federal signal is that 1,526 of 4,889 campgrounds (31.2%) sold room or unit accommodation in 2022, worth $281.2 million, or 6.6% of campground revenue [3].
• The unit decides the rulebook. Utah exempts a "remote yurt" from its construction code only if it is no larger than 710 square feet and has no plumbing or electricity [4] [5]. Virginia's campground rule counts yurts and cabins as camping units [6].

This page sets out what the study must prove, the public data behind it, and where that data runs out, including monthly visitation for 26 park units, campground and cabin rules in 16 states, lodging tax in 15 states, wildfire exposure in 16 gateway counties, and the SBA and USDA rules that decide a loan. For the site-based side of the market, see the RV park feasibility study. For a worked budget and coverage test, see the 45-pad glamping resort model study in Garfield County, Utah, and for how the consultant's work differs from the appraiser's, read the consultant's role in a glamping feasibility study.

What is a glamping feasibility study?

A glamping feasibility study is an independent report that concludes whether a proposed glamping resort is economically, technically and financially viable on a specific site. USDA's rule for its guaranteed lending programs defines a feasibility study as a report by an independent qualified consultant "evaluating the economic, market, technical, financial, and management feasibility" of a project [7]. That five-part test is a sound standard for any capital source.

A glamping resort sells nights in furnished units: safari or bell tents on platforms, yurts, domes, cabins and tiny houses, often alongside tent or RV sites, food and activities. The study is not an appraisal. The appraiser estimates value; the study tests whether the business can earn the cash flow that value depends on. See what a bankable feasibility study is for the general standard.

What does a lender need the study to prove?

A lender needs the study to prove five things: demand reaches the site in every operating month; rates and unit mix rest on evidence, not the sponsor's targets; every unit can be permitted; utilities, access and fire protection work at planned occupancy; and cash flow covers debt service at the program's level. Federal rules decide when a study is required and which tests it must pass.

Source: 7 CFR Part 5001 and 13 CFR Part 120 (GovInfo, 2026 editions); SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026 [7] [8] [9].

The SBA tests apply to the operating business. A landowner who builds units and hands the whole operation to a manager with sole discretion runs into SBA's passive business rule: a management agreement that "gives the management company sole discretion over the business operations" makes the business ineligible [9]. The study should describe who operates the resort and what the management agreement allows.

How does the study reach its conclusion?

The study answers five questions in a fixed order and stops when one answer is no. A strong market cannot rescue a site that cannot be served with water or permitted for its units, so the site work runs alongside the demand work. The five areas mirror the economic, market, technical, financial and management test in USDA's rule [7].

Source: FSC method; the five areas follow the feasibility study definition in 7 CFR Part 5001 [7].

Each stage records its assumptions so a reviewer can change one and rerun the result, and the conclusion names the conditions under which it holds.

Where does glamping demand come from?

Glamping demand comes from leisure travelers who want to stay near a scenic draw, such as a national or state park, a lake or a mountain town, and who want a bed, heat and often a private bath rather than a bare campsite. No federal series counts glamping guests, so the study builds demand from travel flows it can measure.

The National Park Service publishes a detailed public record of where park visitors sleep. Its overnight stay counts separate concessioner lodging from concessioner campgrounds, tent campers, RV campers and backcountry campers.

Source: National Park Service, Overnight Stays National (1979 to last calendar year); changes calculated by FSC [10].

Across the six recreation categories, the parks recorded 12,988,985 overnight stays in 2025. Concessioner lodging was 24.1% of them, and stays with a concessioner (lodging plus camping) were 35.7% [10]. Concessioner camping grew 18.9% from 2019 while tent camping fell 11.0% [10]. That pattern is consistent with demand moving toward serviced, bookable camping, but the NPS counts cannot say how much of the shift is glamping, and a study should not claim they do.

In most of the parks below, in-park overnight stays are small next to visitation, so lodging and campgrounds outside the boundary serve much of the overnight demand. The ratio of in-park overnight stays to recreation visits is a quick screen for that.

Source: National Park Service, park-specific reports Recreation Visitors By Month and Overnight Stays; per-100 ratio is all six recreation overnight categories divided by recreation visits, calculated by FSC [1] [11].

The ratio compares two different counts, so it is a screen, not a capture rate. Still, where fewer than five overnight stays are recorded inside the boundary for every 100 visits, most overnight demand is likely met outside it. Bryce Canyon shows the same shape: 1,967,367 recreation visits in 2025 and 153,741 overnight stays inside the park [12].

The broader outdoor economy is measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Outdoor recreation accounted for 2.4% of U.S. GDP, $696.7 billion, in 2024 [13]. Real value added for climbing, hiking and tent camping rose 69.5% from 2019 to 2024, while real value added for RVing fell 7.0% and for lodging on outdoor recreation trips rose 9.9% [14]. The state shares below help a study place a county inside a state economy that does or does not lean on outdoor travel.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, U.S. and States, 2024, state Table 1 [15].

The lodging side of outdoor recreation is measured too. In 2024, accommodation and food services produced 14.0% of U.S. outdoor recreation value added and 20.9% of its employment, and far more in some northern and mountain states [15].

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, U.S. and States, 2024, state Tables 3 and 4; shares calculated by FSC [15].

How is visitor capture estimated?

Visitor capture is estimated by walking from a measured count to the subject's unit-nights through stated assumptions. The example starts from Bryce Canyon's May to September 2025 visits [1]; every other input is illustrative, and it is not a forecast for any site.

Source: National Park Service monthly visits [1]; other inputs are illustrative assumptions; results calculated by FSC.

Moving the glamping share from 3% to 2% or 4% moves implied occupancy to 21.9% or 43.9%. That share is the most sensitive input, and only a competitive survey and booking evidence can support it. Park figures count recreation visits, not unique people, so the visits-per-party input must match how the park counts.

How seasonal is glamping demand?

Glamping demand is steeply seasonal in most park markets, and the season's shape differs by place: summer parks peak in July or August, desert parks peak in spring, and Appalachian parks peak in October. The study must model each month, because the resort pays debt service in all twelve.

Source: National Park Service, Recreation Visitors By Month (1979 to last calendar year), park-specific reports; ratios and shares calculated by FSC from monthly counts that sum to each park's annual total [1].

Three lessons follow. A northern park market can be a five-month business: Glacier and Yellowstone took close to nine in ten visits from May to September. Zion, Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree each kept 11% or more of visits in December to February. And trends differ: New River Gorge visits rose 63.8% from 2019 to 2025 while Grand Canyon visits fell 25.8% [1]. Counting methods can change too. Beginning with 2025 data, Bryce Canyon counted only unique passengers entering by shuttle, so a year-over-year change at one park needs a check against the park's own notes before it goes into a forecast [12].

The seasonal curve sets the operating window for each unit type. An uninsulated canvas tent may open only in the warm months; an insulated dome, cabin or tiny house can sell shoulder and winter nights. USDA's rule asks seasonal borrowers for quarterly cash flow [7], and the study should show, quarter by quarter, how the units that stay open carry fixed costs and debt service through the months the tents are down.

Sixteen more gateway parks

The same monthly test at 16 more parks shows how much the operating year changes between gateway markets. With the ten parks above, the page covers 26 park units.

Source: National Park Service, Recreation Visitors By Month and Overnight Stays, park-specific reports; changes, shares and the per-100 ratio (six recreation overnight categories over recreation visits) calculated by FSC. Bryce Canyon's change is omitted because its 2025 shuttle counting changed [1] [11] [12].

Big Bend runs opposite to the summer parks: 28.8% of its visits came from December to February, so a desert unit's high season is winter. Yosemite and Big Bend recorded more than 30 in-park overnight stays per 100 visits, a sign of large in-park supply, while Cuyahoga Valley, Hot Springs and Indiana Dunes recorded fewer than 2, so their overnight demand is met outside the boundary. And one year can mislead: Mammoth Cave's October count fell from 75,732 in 2024 to 12,646 in 2025, a drop of 83.3% [1]. The study reads several years before treating any month as the seasonal floor.

Peak weekends, weather and operating days

Park data are monthly, so the weekly shape that sets rates is measured directly: the study samples competitors' availability and prices for Friday and Saturday nights against midweek nights, and reads holiday weekends on their own. A resort that fills on weekends but runs half empty midweek needs a midweek plan (groups, retreats, packages), not an annual average. Weather sets the operating window as firmly as demand: the study counts freezing nights and wet months at the nearest long-record station and sets each unit type's season to match. Smoke, fire and road closures belong in the downside case.

Which unit types work, and how does each change the permit path?

The right unit type is the one the market will pay for and the jurisdiction will permit at the planned size, with the planned utilities. The state codes reviewed for this page do not use the word glamping. They sort units into tents, membrane structures, recreational vehicles, manufactured homes and buildings, and each category carries its own permit, fire, flood and sanitation rules.

Source: Utah Code 15A-1-202 and 15A-1-204; Metro Nashville Fire Marshal tent permit guidance; 12VAC5-450-10 and -115; 44 CFR 59.1 and 60.3; Minn. Stat. 327.14; Code of Virginia 35.1-1 [4] [5] [16] [6] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21].

The Utah rule shows the trade-off clearly. A yurt without power or plumbing can skip the construction code; the same yurt with electric heat or a bathroom cannot [4]. If the units will have power, the study budgets for building permits on every unit unless the jurisdiction confirms otherwise in writing.

Unit mix also changes the operating window. The Utah model study assumes tents open 214 nights, domes 245 and cabins all year; those are modelled assumptions for one site, not market data.

How do building and land use codes treat tents, yurts and tiny cabins?

Codes treat a glamping unit by what it contains, not what it is called: plumbing, power, cooking, a permanent foundation and floor area move a unit from camping shelter toward building. None of the rules below uses the word glamping.

Source: Utah Code; ORS chapter 215 (2025 edition); RSA 216-I:1; ARSD 44:02:14; ARM 37.111 subchapter 12; 44 CFR 59.1 and 60.3 [4] [5] [22] [23] [24] [25] [18] [19].

The unit specification must be fixed before the permit analysis, because a late wet bath or kitchenette can move every unit into a different code. Building and fire codes are adopted state by state and often county by county, so the study names the edition in force and gets the building official's classification in writing.

Which state rules license tents, cabins and yurts as campgrounds?

Most states reviewed here license a glamping resort through campground or lodging rules, and the trigger is a small number of sites, starting at two campsites in South Dakota, New Hampshire and New Jersey [26] [23] [27]. Twelve more states follow, in addition to Minnesota, Virginia, Oregon and Utah above.

Source: state statutes, rules and health agency guidance as listed [28] [25] [26] [24] [23] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [27] [38] [39].

Two lender questions follow. Even a few units usually need a state or county license, so the study names it, the agency and the renewal cycle. And the bath decision can change the category: South Dakota bars a bathroom in a camping cabin while its lodging definition covers cabins [24] [26], so a resort mixing shared-bath tents with en-suite cabins may need two licenses.

What evidence exists for glamping rates and occupancy?

No public dataset publishes glamping nightly rates, occupancy or unit counts. The federal statistical system folds glamping into campgrounds, recreational camps or other traveler accommodation, and it reports revenue, not rates or occupied nights. The study therefore collects its own rate and occupancy evidence and uses federal data only for scale and revenue mix.

The 2022 Economic Census product-line tables are the closest public measure of what campgrounds sell besides sites.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, products by industry (EC2200NAPCSINDPRD), U.S. totals for all establishments [3].

Among the 1,526 campgrounds that sold room or unit accommodation, those units made up 16% of their revenue [3]. In campgrounds that offer them, cabins and similar units are a minority of revenue; a glamping resort makes them the core product. Campground or RV park occupancy is not a proxy for furnished units.

What a study collects instead:

• Published rates of the competitive set, taken from each operator's own booking page for weekday and weekend nights in peak, shoulder and off-season months, by unit type.
• Availability sampling over several weeks, which shows how fast inventory sells and where discounting starts.
• Interviews with park concessioners, gateway lodging owners and tourism offices on seasons, closures and group business.
• Lodging tax data where the state or county publishes it by month and place.
• The sponsor's own history, if a pilot phase or campground already operates on the site, verified against tax returns.

The study labels its rate and occupancy inputs as assumptions, shows the evidence behind each, and stress tests them against coverage.

How unit mix changes available nights

Unit mix changes the denominator before it changes the rate. In the Utah model study, tents, domes and cabins open for different seasons.

Source: FSC model study, 45-pad glamping resort in Garfield County, Utah; model assumptions and results, not market data.

The model's 66.7% on available nights is 46.1% on a full-year basis, so every occupancy claim must state its denominator.

What do food, activities and events add to revenue?

They add revenue, but public data show them as a small share for campground operators, so the study treats them as support for the rooms line. In 2022, meals and nonalcoholic beverages were 1.4% of RV park and campground revenue and recreational equipment rental was 1.3%; at recreational and vacation camps, all other recreation services were 2.7% [3].

A resort built around a lodge can do more. The Utah model study assumes food and beverage at 22% of rooms revenue and activities, retail and fees at 7%, leaving rooms at 77.5% of total revenue; those are assumptions for one site. The study supports each ancillary line with a price plan, a capture rate per occupied unit, and its permits (food service, alcohol and events).

Events have their own limits. On Oregon farmland, a county may authorize a single agri-tourism event a year on a tract only if it lasts no more than 72 consecutive hours, draws no more than 500 people and parks no more than 250 vehicles [22]. The study models weddings and retreats only to the level the land use rules allow.

How is the competitive supply survey done?

The competitive supply survey is done property by property, because federal counts are too coarse to isolate glamping. Federal data sets the frame; the survey fills it in with named competitors, their unit types, unit counts, seasons and published rates.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census (EC2272BASIC) and County Business Patterns 2023 (cbp23us); receipts per establishment and shares calculated by FSC [40] [41].

The 2022 NAICS definitions explain the split. Campgrounds (721211) operate sites "including tents, tent trailers, travel trailers, and RVs" [42]. Recreational and vacation camps (721214) provide "cabins and fixed campsites" with food and organized activities, and the index places outdoor adventure retreats there [2]. Housekeeping cabins and cottages sit in 721199 [2]. A glamping resort can land in any of the three, so a county count in one code will miss competitors filed in another. Nonemployer operators matter too: in 2024 there were 9,655 nonemployer establishments in 72121, with receipts of $68.3 thousand each on average [43]. Operators with no payroll do not appear in employer counts.

The state pattern of the combined industry helps size a regional market.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, NAICS 72121 (RV parks and recreational camps), states with published receipts; shares of the U.S. total of $7,961,499 thousand calculated by FSC [40].

The survey method:

1. Define the market area by drive time from the site and from the demand generators (park entrances, lakes, trailheads), not by county lines.
2. Build the list from state campground and tourist facility license rolls where they are public, county planning and permit agendas, lodging tax registrations, and operators' own websites. Minnesota, Oregon and Virginia all license campgrounds through health agencies [44] [45] [46]; Oregon's license covers any "tourist facility", which includes travelers' accommodations and recreation parks [45].
3. Record each competitor's unit types, unit count, bath arrangement, season, amenities, and published rates by season and day of week.
4. Add the pipeline: approved or pending projects from county planning agendas, conditional use permits and building permit records.
5. Separate direct competitors (furnished units at similar prices) from indirect ones (campgrounds, cabins, motels and short-term rentals).
6. Estimate supply growth and its timing, then test the subject's fair share against it.

What site and technical issues decide feasibility?

Zoning, water and wastewater, fire protection, access and flood exposure decide whether a site can host the planned resort, and any one of them can stop a project the market supports. The study confirms each with the authority that controls it before the projection is final.

Zoning and conditional use

A county may treat a glamping resort as a campground, resort or commercial recreation use and allow it only by conditional use permit or zone change. A 2020 Garfield County, Utah planning agenda, for example, carried a conditional use permit for a short-term rental, RV park and glamping use alongside zone changes to a resort recreation district [47]. The study reads the ordinance, the hearing record and the conditions of approval (unit caps, density, setbacks, quiet hours, lighting, seasonal limits), because each one changes revenue or cost. Where the county has no glamping definition, the study records which category staff apply.

Water and wastewater

Water and wastewater bring federal and state thresholds into play early. A water system becomes a federally regulated public water system once it has 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of 25 individuals daily at least 60 days a year [48], and EPA names campgrounds as an example of transient non-community systems [49]. A septic system serving 20 or more persons per day is a large capacity septic system under EPA's underground injection rules [50]. A resort with more than a few units can cross both lines, so the study computes design population and daily flows against them. Where water rights follow prior appropriation, the right matters as much as the well; Utah's rule is "first in time is first in right" [51].

State campground rules then set the sanitation standard. Two state rules show how the bath decision changes the build.

Source: Minn. Stat. 327.14 and 327.15; Minn. R. 4630.0400, 4630.0800 and 4630.0900; Code of Virginia 35.1-1; 12VAC5-450-10, -40 and -100 [20] [44] [52] [53] [55] [21] [6] [46] [54].

Source: Minn. R. 4630.0900 (dependent sites); 12VAC5-450-100 (Virginia schedule; showers and lavatories optional, but the schedule applies when provided) [55] [54].

The choice between shared bathhouses and en-suite baths is a cost, revenue and permit decision at once. En-suite units cost more and raise wastewater flows, but in Virginia they drop out of the fixture count [54], and the rate premium they earn is something the competitive survey must measure. The study models both layouts when the sponsor has not decided.

Fire and life safety

Fire rules reach glamping through tent permits, heating appliances and camp fire rings. Metro Nashville's fire marshal, for example, requires an operational permit for a tent over 400 square feet, an NFPA 701 flame spread certificate, LP-gas containers outside the tent, and 20 feet between tents with sidewalls where cooking is done [16]. Minnesota's campground rule defers fire protection to the state fire marshal [56], and Virginia's rule requires smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, when provided, to be functional and serviced [17]. The study confirms with the local fire code official how tents, wood stoves, propane heaters and fire pits are treated, the fire-flow or water storage required, and how emergency vehicles reach each unit.

Access

Access is a credit issue because a resort without all-weather access cannot sell its off-season. The study confirms legal access (recorded easement or public road frontage), road standards for fire apparatus, a second exit where the fire code requires one, winter maintenance, and drive times from airports and population centers. A site near a park entrance but reached by a long unpaved road may compete like a site much farther away.

Flood

Flood rules matter for creekside and lakeside sites. The base flood is the flood with a 1% chance of being equalled or exceeded in any year, and for floodplain management a structure is "a walled and roofed building" [18]. Units on wheels that meet the federal recreational vehicle definition are treated differently from cabins on foundations [18] [19]. The study maps every unit, bathhouse and septic field against the current flood map and records which units must be elevated or kept mobile.

Staffing, parking and site capacity

RV parks and campgrounds averaged about 5.3 paid employees per establishment in the 2022 Economic Census [40]; a glamping resort with housekeeping, linen and food service needs more, so the study builds staffing by department and season. Density rules cap the unit count: New Jersey's guidance allows no more than 20 campsites and 200 persons per acre [27], and Minnesota sets 2,000 square feet per camping vehicle site [52]. Parking needs one space per unit plus staff and day visitors, and each staff shift adds wastewater, at 15 gallons per employee per eight-hour shift in Minnesota's design rule [57].

How much wastewater will the units produce, and where can the well go?

Wastewater volume depends on unit type and baths, and it is often the utility that limits unit count. State design tables give the planning values.

Source: Minn. R. 7081.0130, Table I; Alabama Administrative Code 420-3-1, Table 1; 20.7.3 NMAC [57] [58] [59].

Thirty cabins with two guests each at Minnesota's 50 gallons per person produce 3,000 gallons per day; ten staff shifts add 150, for 3,150 [57]. That resort serves 60 persons at full occupancy, past EPA's 20-person line for a large capacity septic system [50], and its flow is double Illinois' 1500 gallon threshold for an engineer-designed system [36]. Thirty tent sites sharing a bathhouse at 50 gallons per site would produce 1,500 gallons per day [57]. Minnesota requires measured flows when they exceed the table [57], which matters when an existing campground expands.

Well siting follows the septic layout. Minnesota keeps a water-supply well at least 50 feet from a septic tank or soil dispersal area, and 300 feet from the absorption area of a system over 10,000 gallons per day [60]. The study puts wells, tanks, drainfields and units on one plan, checks each distance against the governing rule, and confirms public water system status under EPA's thresholds [48].

How do wildfire and flood exposure affect the site and the loan?

They affect where units go, what they cost to insure, and whether the lender must require insurance. Many strong glamping markets sit in high-risk wildfire counties, so the study reads the hazard data before the site plan is fixed.

Source: USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities, data download updated April 15, 2026 (county tab: buildings in the Direct Exposure Zone, mean burn probability percentile and mean risk to potential structures percentile, national); fractions converted to percentages by FSC [61].

Wildfire likelihood is the county's mean burn probability percentile and risk to homes its mean risk to potential structures percentile [61]; both can diverge from the share of buildings exposed. Mariposa County ranks at the 98th national percentile on both, Hancock County, Maine at the 12th, though 83.1% of its buildings sit in the direct exposure zone [61]. In a high-risk county the study budgets defensible space, noncombustible platforms, fire water storage, a second access route and a guest evacuation plan, and confirms insurance quotes before the projection is final.

Flood risk carries a legal consequence. Federal law bars regulated lenders and federal agency lenders from making, increasing, extending or renewing a loan secured by improved real estate in a mapped special flood hazard area unless the building is insured for the term of the loan [62]. Cabins, bathhouses and lodges are buildings; tents and road-ready park units are treated differently under floodplain rules [18] [19]. The study maps every structure, lists which need coverage, and carries the premium in the budget.

Can a glamping resort operate under farm and agritourism rules?

Sometimes, but agritourism status is narrower than many landowners assume, and overnight lodging is rarely named in the definitions.

Source: ORS chapter 215 (2025 edition); G.S. 99E-30 and 160D-903; Code of Virginia 3.2-6400 and 15.2-2288.6 [22] [63] [64] [65] [66].

Neither the North Carolina nor the Virginia definition names overnight lodging [63] [65]. A farm stay selling nights in tents or cabins may still need county campground or short-term rental approval, a state health license and lodging tax registration. Where the agritourism route is open it can shorten the land use path, but the lender will want the county's written confirmation, and the study makes that letter a condition of its conclusion.

How are lodging taxes applied to tents, yurts and cabins?

Lodging taxes generally reach glamping in the states reviewed here, because their statutes name tent sites, campgrounds, cottages or cabins. The study should state the full tax rate on room rent at the site's address, show whether published rates include or exclude it, and confirm whether any long-stay exemption applies.

Source: ORS 320.300, 320.305 and 320.308; s. 212.03, F.S.; Minn. Stat. 297A.61; Utah Code 59-12-103; Utah State Tax Commission rates in effect October 1, 2026; G.S. 105-164.3, 105-164.4 and 105-164.4F [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [74] [72] [73].

Rates near parks can be high. Among the Utah gateway locations below, the total rate on transient room rent runs from 12.92% in unincorporated Garfield County to 16.42% in Moab [71]. Whether a tent or yurt is a "similar lodging facility" in North Carolina, or a tourist home or trailer court accommodation in Utah, is a question the study puts to the state revenue department in writing.

Source: Utah State Tax Commission, rates applied to certain transactions, in effect October 1, 2026; the transient room rate includes the combined sales and use rate [71].

A study that compares the subject's rates with competitors must compare like with like: rates before tax, or rates with the same tax included.

Ten more states show how far lodging tax reaches into camping. Most name tents, campsites or cabins directly; in Texas the question is whether the unit is a building.

Source: MCA 15-65-111 and 15-68-102; Idaho Code 63-3612 and 63-3619; 36 M.R.S. 1752 and 1811; RSA 78-A:3 and 78-A:6; 32 V.S.A. 9202 and 9241; 2020 Wyoming Enrolled Act No. 7; SDCL 10-45D-2; Texas Tax Code chapter 156; Colorado FYI Sales 11; Missouri Department of Revenue [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [88] [89].

Long-stay lines differ between tax and financing: SBA's transient test counts stays of 30 days or less [9], while New Hampshire's rooms tax runs to 185 consecutive days [82]. A resort selling monthly winter stays tracks both.

What does it cost to develop a glamping resort?

Development cost depends on unit type, utilities, buildings and site work, and no primary source publishes glamping costs, so a study builds them from the sponsor's design, contractor and supplier quotes, and engineers' estimates, presented as assumptions. The table below shows one modelled structure to illustrate where the money goes. It is not market data.

Source: FSC model study, 45-pad glamping resort in Garfield County, Utah; assumptions in 2027 dollars, financing costs excluded, shares calculated by FSC and rounded (they sum to 100.1%). These are modelled inputs, not a survey of costs.

In that model, site work, water, wastewater and power together cost 71.5% as much as the guest units themselves. That is why a budget built from unit prices alone understates cost. Input prices also move between the budget and the bids. A study carries a hard-cost contingency sized to design maturity and asks for fixed-price bids before commitment.

How does the study test debt service coverage?

The study tests coverage by year, by quarter and under stress, because a seasonal resort can show a healthy annual ratio and still miss payments in closed months. USDA defines the ratio as EBITDA less expected replacement capital spending, divided by annual debt service [7], so tent and soft-goods replacement sits above the line. SBA 7(a) projections must reach 1.15 or more within two years of funding [9].

Source: FSC model study, 45-pad glamping resort in Garfield County, Utah (USDA B&I structure); model results for one hypothetical resort, not market data.

In that model each 100 basis points moved stabilized coverage about 0.10x, while a 10% occupancy miss moved it about 0.23x, and at the program's 25% minimum equity Year 3 coverage was only 1.02x. A study that reports only the base case hides the results a lender most needs.

Which financing paths fit a glamping resort?

Four financing paths are compared below: SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry (B&I) guaranteed loans in rural areas, and conventional bank loans. Each reads the feasibility study differently.

Source: 13 CFR Part 120 and 7 CFR Part 5001 (GovInfo, 2026 editions); SBA SOP 50 10 8.1; USDA FY2026 OneRD notice (Federal Register, via GovInfo) [8] [7] [9] [90].

Rates move with the market. The bank prime rate was 7.00% in the Federal Reserve's H.15 release of November 10, 2026 [91]; the study's debt service should use the lender's quoted structure and a stress case above it. For B&I, the maximum term runs to the justified useful life of the assets, not exceeding 40 years [7], so tents and soft goods with short lives need their own replacement reserve in the projection. The Utah model study applies these B&I rules to a full budget.

Which SBA rules matter most for a glamping resort?

Beyond the transient test, a handful of SBA rules decide whether a glamping file works. The table draws them from SBA's procedures effective October 1, 2026 [9].

Source: SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026 [9].

Can USDA's energy program help a rural glamping resort?

Yes, in part. The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) funds renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements for rural small businesses, such as a resort's solar array or efficient heating, but not the units themselves.

Source: 7 CFR 4280.103, 4280.112, 4280.113 and 4280.115 (GovInfo, revised as of January 1, 2026) [93] [92] [95] [94].

The study shows the project with and without the grant, so the conclusion does not depend on an award that may arrive after construction would otherwise start.

What must a glamping feasibility study contain?

A glamping feasibility study must contain enough evidence for a lender to repeat the analysis and reach the same conclusion. At a minimum:

1. A clear statement of the project: site, acreage, unit types and counts, bath arrangement, amenities, phasing and the operator.
2. A market area definition by drive time, with the demand generators and their monthly visitation.
3. A demand analysis that converts visitor and traveler flows into unit-night demand by month, with each assumption stated.
4. A competitive supply survey of named properties, with unit types, counts, seasons and published rates, plus the permitted pipeline.
5. A rate and occupancy forecast by unit type and month, labeled as assumptions, with the rate-shopping and interview evidence behind it.
6. A zoning and permit analysis: the use category, the approvals required, conditions, and the classification of each unit type under building, fire and health rules.
7. A utilities analysis: water source and right, public water system status, wastewater design flow and permit path, power, propane and telecommunications.
8. Access, fire protection and flood analysis for every unit and support building.
9. A development budget with sources and uses, a contingency, and the construction schedule's effect on opening season.
10. A multi-year operating projection with a monthly or quarterly view, operating expenses by department, and reserves for replacing tents and soft goods.
11. Debt service coverage under the proposed structure, with the program tests (transient revenue share, equity, coverage) shown explicitly.
12. Sensitivity and stress tests on rate, occupancy, season length, opening delay and interest rate.
13. A conclusion on feasibility, with the risks and the conditions under which the conclusion holds.

What documents does the study need?

The study needs documents that fix the project, the site and the operator; missing items are the most common cause of delay.

Source: FSC intake checklist, following the study contents above and the program rules in 7 CFR Part 5001 and SOP 50 10 8.1 [7] [9].

What does the engagement deliver, and what sets its schedule?

The engagement delivers one written report a lender can read on its own, plus the working model behind it. No glamping fee band is published, so this page describes scope and deliverables only.

Source: FSC engagement scope.

The schedule depends mostly on things outside the study: how fast the intake documents arrive, whether zoning and health officials answer in writing, the site visit window, and the number of lender review rounds. The work runs in seven steps:

1. Intake: the sponsor's concept, site plan, budget, financing target and any existing operations.
2. Site visit and market area tour, including competitors and demand generators.
3. Data collection: federal and state statistics, permit and license records, lodging tax data, rate shopping and interviews.
4. Agency confirmations on zoning, health, fire, water and flood items.
5. Analysis: demand, supply, rate and occupancy, budget review and projections.
6. Draft report, lender questions and revisions.
7. Final report delivered to the sponsor and the lender.

The firm behind this page is described on the about page.

What happens after the loan closes?

After closing, the lender keeps testing the study's assumptions. USDA's rule sets minimum reporting for B&I loans.

Source: 7 CFR Part 5001 (GovInfo, revised as of January 1, 2026) [7].

The most useful monitoring lines are occupancy by unit type against the monthly schedule, shoulder-month nights actually sold, and the replacement reserve against the tent replacement plan. A weak first summer shows in those three lines before it shows in coverage.

Download the evidence behind this page's exhibits (CSV, 830 data points with sources)