Greenfinch joins GITA: backing a unified voice for the UK glamping industry
Glamping is no longer a fringe idea bolted onto a working farm. It is a fast-maturing, professional sector that is reshaping how landowners think about their assets and Greenfinch is delighted to confirm that the consultancy has joined the Glamping Industries Trade Association (GITA) as a member.
For a planning and development consultancy whose entire purpose is to help landowners turn ambitious ideas into deliverable schemes, this feels like a natural step. Glamping has been a cornerstone of Greenfinch's farm and estate diversification work, and GITA is fast becoming the body that speaks for the sector at a national level. Joining was, frankly, overdue.
Why GITA, and why now
GITA was founded in 2024 by a group of leading operators, including Chair Derry Green of The Secret Garden Glamping. Its remit is to act as a unified voice for the experiential outdoor living market, influencing national, regional and local government on the issues that matter most to operators: planning, tourism policy, accommodation standards, health and safety, accessibility and more.
For Greenfinch's clients farmers, estate managers and rural businesses weighing up how to make their land work harder that matters in three very practical ways:
• Planning policy is shaped, not given. Most of the regulatory headwinds that affect glamping schemes are decided long before a planning officer ever opens an application. Having a credible industry voice in those conversations is what stops policy being written about the sector rather than with it.
• Standards lift everyone's value. The new Visitor Ready Accreditation, the Snowball accessibility rating scheme and the GITA business support framework (HR, tax and VAT, legal, health and safety) raise the floor for the whole industry. A better baseline means stronger occupancy, stronger reviews and stronger long-term asset value for every site.
• The right rooms get the right conversations. Greenfinch already shares those rooms, most recently at the inaugural GITA Spring Summit, where Director Ben Newton sat on the 'Ask the Experts' workshop alongside John Maddy and Richard Coulter of Long Valley Yurts and Mark Scott of Safari Tents. Membership formalises that involvement.
What it means for landowners considering diversification
Diversification is the most common reason a client first picks up the phone to Greenfinch. Margins on traditional farming have rarely been tighter, succession is on the table for many estates, and a well-designed glamping scheme remains one of the most attractive routes to a meaningful, lower-risk additional income from existing land.
The numbers behind that confidence are no longer speculative. The Glamping Trends Report presented at the GITA Spring Summit, which draws on a nationally representative survey of 1,502 UK adults and five years of Travel Chapter booking data, projects the UK glamping market to reach £350–380 million by 2032. Sixty per cent of UK adults have either been glamping or plan to, rising to 81% among Gen Z. Seventy per cent say they want to see more of Britain. That is a structural shift in how the country chooses to take a short break, and landed assets are squarely in its path.
Two themes from GITA shape how Greenfinch is now advising new and existing operators:
• Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is no longer an afterthought on a planning application; it is a live consideration that, handled well, can become a commercial and environmental win rather than a hurdle. Many glamping schemes work hand in glove with BNG obligations when designed early enough in the process.
• Accessibility championed at the Summit by Snowball is moving from a niche concern to a baseline expectation. Phased accessibility improvements can be designed into master plans from day one, opening sites to a wider, year-round market.
A track record landowners can trust
Greenfinch combines chartered planners, architects, project managers, engineers and energy specialists under one roof. The result, for glamping clients, is the kind of single-thread service that turns a feasibility conversation into consented, built, revenue-generating units in months rather than years.
It is also a service that delivers. Greenfinch has a 100% success rate on glamping planning applications submitted to date, a record the team is committed to protecting through honest site appraisal, careful pre-application strategy and design that gives planning officers a clear reason to say yes. RIBA and RTPI accreditation underpins the work.
Looking ahead
Joining GITA is a commitment to do more, not less. Greenfinch will keep contributing to industry panels, sharing planning insight through the association's library and webinar programme, and pushing for the kind of sensible, design-led policy environment that lets the next generation of glamping schemes thrive.
For landowners, the message is straightforward: the sector is maturing, the data is supportive, the policy questions are getting clearer answers, and the team that helps clients navigate it all is now part of the body shaping its future.
Book a free site review call
If you are weighing up whether your land could support a glamping scheme or you have a project already in mind and want a clear view of the planning risk before you commit, Greenfinch offers an initial site review call at no cost. The team will give you an honest read on feasibility, likely planning outcomes and the route to consent.
Book your free site review call: Greenfinch booking calendar