Gramping: New camping trend?

Is “gramping” the new camping trend?

Over the past month, the term has made its way into stories in the UK travel media. The Telegraph has devoted two pieces to the subject: a feature by Harry Wallop on the growth of an intergenerational travel trend and a column by Oliver Pritchett that argues humorously against the adoption of the practice.

Wallop’s article does a good job of supplying evidence for the development of the trend. In the UK, the recession and an increase in Air Passenger Tax as well as added fees and surcharges related to flying have prompted a decline in overseas air travel. Concurrently, Wallop notes, “holiday camps, camp sites and other British resorts have reported healthy booking levels,” and all have apparently witnessed an increase in extended family bookings.

This drive toward local holidays may be a significant factor behind the emergence of the intergenerational travel habit. Of course, camping experiences shared by grandparents and grandchildren are hardly new, but the emergence of a trend supported by evidence is interesting.

Though some of the anecdotal evidence points to relatively swank camping conditions on the part of the gramping set, gramping is most definitely not glamping. This, of course raises some questions. What would be the appropriate term for glamping with gramps? Glagramping? Grampglamping?

[Image: Flickr | Dakota O]