Created in 1987, Sunêlia is an independent French camping chain that operates with franchise units. Upscale, with three- to five- star campsites, the first outdoor hotel brand to install spas in mobile homes. A camping chain focused on innovation at all levels.
Today Sunêlia has a network of 27 campsites, three of which are located abroad: one in Spain, one in Italy and a third added this year, which is located by the sea in the southwest Netherlands, in the Zeeland region. This chain, headed by Alain Faveau, is resolutely oriented towards the outdoors, with a strong multilingualism, particularly through bilingual children's clubs and language courses, but also, and above all, thanks to a substantial foreign clientele, who represent no less than 40% of its stays.
Foreign clientele have been the source of a real growth trend in recent years. Indeed "between 2017 and 2019 alone, the average growth in all European foreign markets in where Sunêlia is positioned is over 30%," explains the brand. Moreover, the chain recorded 5% growth in foreign tourist bookings for the first quarter of 2019. Sunêlia points out that "this increase is marked by a double-digit increase in British customers, but also an increase in German, Swiss, Spanish, Irish and Italian guests".
Seeing real opportunities on the other side of the Channel, the brand has created a Franco-British partnership with Best of British. A network of around fifty high-end campsites in Great Britain, they are spread over England, Wales and Scotland, and almost half are located in coastal areas. It would be an alliance in terms of marketing "and other areas of collaboration to benefit both entities", as both brands are aligned on the same quality standards. A Sunêlia points out, this measure really goes against the trends in the sector in the turbulent context of Brexit. It is almost a political act favoring ongoing trade with the big island in the United Kingdom.
