If you own a mountain or an inheritance occurs, I think there are many people who are in trouble about how to use that land.
I did an appraisal of the mountain forest the other day, and that customer was running a campsite. It is easily accessible, about 1 hour by car from the city center, and is a place where you can fully enjoy nature surrounded by Tanzawa and the Doshi River. It is a popular campground in the Kanto suburbs where you can enjoy seasonal nature, such as playing in the river in summer, cherry blossoms in spring, and fall foliage. I have no camping experience, but I was greatly fascinated by camping surrounded by nature. I want to forget the hustle and bustle of the city, eat something called a camp meal in front of a bonfire at night, and wake up in the morning to chirping birds.
In fact, due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 onwards, camping booms such as solo camping and glamping have accelerated. Even in the “Auto Camping White Paper 2023” by the Japan Auto Camping Association, the characteristics of camping in 2022 are the number of times and number of nights, and the average number of camping nights per year was 7.2 nights over 7 nights for the first time, and the number of times exceeded 5 times for the first time, 5.4 times. Also, since it has become easier to take vacations, the number of people who go camping on weekdays is over half at 50.1%. As such users frequently visited campgrounds, the average campsite occupancy rate hit a record high of 20.7%, an increase of 0.3 points from the previous year. As for the trend in '22, it seems that “solo campers have increased” is number 1, and “the number of female solo campers has increased” is number 2.
When running a campsite, you may have to cut down forests or prepare lodging facilities, but in that case, several qualifications and permits are required. Examples include woodland development permits, ryokan business permits, restaurant business permits, alcoholic beverage sales business licenses, etc. Other than that, when constructing a building such as an administration building at a campsite, it is necessary to obtain construction confirmation under the City Planning Act. There are many cases where campgrounds currently in operation were opened during the camping boom in the 1990s, and it seems that there are many business owners suffering from a shortage of successors. Management know-how from the previous owner can be inherited, and if you start from a state with regular customers, the difficulty level of establishment decreases. Also, it seems that areas close to tourist spots and hot spring facilities are popular. There are people who only want to camp, but if there is Plus Alpha, the appeal increases.
Many people who enjoy authentic camping or solo camping are looking for nature's true form. How about campsite management that does not destroy mountain forests while drastically reducing initial costs and maintenance costs while carrying out minimal maintenance?
Reprinted from “Weekly Building Management” by Building Management Institute Co., Ltd. (with permission)
