At Wild Lotus one of our major goals is keeping our stunning beach glamping site in the Caribbean just that - stunning. When we pitched our luxury tents on Valley Church Beach in Antigua five years ago it was a beach of the clearest turquoise waters and powder white sand. We are happy to report that five years later we have preserved our slice of Valley Church so that it’s as gorgeous as it was when we first got there.
Our eco-friendly practices don't matter to all our guests. But those who care often want to be sure that when they come stay with us their dollars are being spent to support responsible tourism. If this is you or if you’re thinking of going glamping elsewhere in the Caribbean, here are 5 ways choosing a Caribbean glamping vacation promotes responsible tourism.
Powered by the sun and built from sustainable materials these glamping sites can all be visited responsibly
Glamping Opens Up Nature to You Without Harming The Environment
Imagine getting so close to nature that you see the moment the morning dew kisses a leaf. Or perhaps you are a guest at our resort in Antigua and wake up so close to the ocean that you can feel when a drop of salt from the waves 20 steps away touches your skin.
In the past having these experiences where you’re so close to nature you become part of it was difficult unless you were willing to do it in a hotel that had eroded the very nature you wanted to be close to so they could build their mega building. Even then, it was impossible to get to really untouched places where no resorts had built hotels.
Glamping now makes it all possible. And with little to no impact on the environment. The pop up nature of glamping structures opens up off grid rural farms, secluded beaches like ours, and rainforest spaces to guests like you looking for amazing new travel experiences. Hard to reach places that have no hotels or places where you want to be next to nature and not in a hotel can easily accommodate a glamping site. Powered by the sun and built from sustainable materials these glamping sites can all be visited responsibly since you know that the glamping structures have zero impact on the environment. Now all you have to do is check to see if the place of your dreams has a glamping site!
If your dream glamping site happens to be a powder sand beach lit by the sun and 20 steps away from the glistening blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, our luxury beach glamping accommodations may be for you.
Glamping Protects Forests and Coastlines
Environments everywhere face increasing challenges. In the Caribbean, the major issues are over intensive tourism development, weak public infrastructure, and catastrophic natural events like the hurricanes that are an ever present threat in the region. While we have little control over natural disasters, the destruction of mangroves and beaches to build more hotels are controllable actions that also threaten the quintessential secluded beaches everyone comes to the Caribbean to enjoy.
You don’t contribute to this destruction when you choose glamping. Glamping resorts use rustic but gorgeous temporary structures that can be erected right in the middle of nature without having to do any major clearing of trees or sand. If your next vacation is a trip to the Caribbean, choose beach glamping and you can be sure your dollars are helping protect a beach instead of destroying it.
In Wild Lotus’ case, we pitch pretty white lotus belle tents right into the sand. No clearing or degradation of the coastline needed!
Glamping Leaves a Tiny Footprint on The Environment
Unlike mega hotels and resorts, glamping resorts usually focus on smaller numbers of guests so that the sustainable resources they depend on don't get depleted. Many glamping grounds also use moveable structures that have little impact on the environment. It’s usually as simple as putting tent stakes into the ground or pitching a simple and easily removable yurt platform. Want to know more? See how yurts and tents protect the environment.
At Wild Lotus the only footprint we leave is the trail of our guests’ feet in the sand. Tents are removed at both our Bequia glamping resort and our Antigua glamping resort at the end of every season. We have no permanent structures that can erode the beach. We’ve also pioneered a form of tourism that places ‘visitor value’ over ‘visitor volume’.
As a guest you’ll like knowing that your value is not only measured in terms of how much you spend. For us, a more meaningful measure is the extent to which visitors are prepared to act, and share responsibility to protect our beautiful little island. We hope to attract guests who like the simple luxuries of life: camping 20 steps away from the beach in a resort that uses only sustainable sources for its amenities, enjoying an oil massage deep in the untouched rainforest, cooking on a campfire on the beach under the stars. If this sounds like your kind of heaven, you can see more of our experiences.
Caribbean Glamping Resorts Protects Local Jobs
Glamping structures can be easily dismantled in the face of tropical storms and hurricanes. This means that the accommodations get protected for the next season so that locals who depend on glamping resorts for their livelihoods don’t get affected each time a hurricane hits the Caribbean.
At Wild Lotus this is exactly what we do. Every season we remove our tents and plant new coconut trees! If there's ever the threat of a hurricane we can quickly dismantle our glamping site with no impact on our beach paradise and with no worry that those depending on us for jobs will have nothing to come back to if a dangerous hurricane does hit. Our commitment to local Caribbean economies drive every decision we make.
Glamping Exposes You To Caribbean Culture In A Way Beneficial to Locals
When you glamp with a resort that takes pain to protect the local ecologies, the locals appreciate you and welcome you into their lives. It is these relationships that add the most value to the travel experience .The locals are your hosts, they live on the land and they want to share a little piece of their heritage with you.
As responsible tourism innovators, Wild Lotus Glamping is working with landowners in Antigua & Barbuda to open up more remote beaches, rural farms and stunning pieces of rainforest. We’ve also opened a brand new property on an untouched beach in Bequia that will be as sustainable as the one in Antigua!
Choose our Bequia Glamping Resort or Antigua Glamping Resort to learn more.
