What exactly does the travel startup AlpacaCamping do?

Könnt ihr euer Start-up in einem Satz beschreiben?

AlpacaCamping is the Airbnb of camping—local hosts bring unique camping experiences to life on our platform.

In your opinion, what sets AlpacaCamping apart and makes you stand out from the competition?

We have three pillars that are important to us and set us apart. The first is Product: Our platform is constantly being developed, and user-centered design plays a major role in this. We test all ideas before they are permanently integrated into the platform. Everything is developed with the user in mind—to provide the best user experience.
The second is our offering: In theory, anyone with a nice spot can offer a parking space through us. However, every parking space is personally inspected by us and goes through an approval process. This allows us to set high quality standards.
The final pillar is customer service and support: We are available by phone for guests and hosts, and we typically handle cancellations manually to provide every guest with the best service.
If we get these three things right, we’ll clearly stand out from the competition.

When did the idea for the business come about?

During the pandemic, I went camping—at Walchensee… Before I could even set up camp, local ranchers told me that camping is prohibited all around Walchensee. The campground was closed, and the municipal RV park was also full. That’s when I got the idea to camp on private property.

Was war der beste Ratschlag, den ihr fürs Gründen bekommen habt?

Keep going, even when it gets tough and exhausting—it’s worth it!

Was war bisher euer größtes Erfolgserlebnis und was die größte Herausforderung?

The biggest sense of accomplishment actually came right after the lifting of the COVID-related ban on lodging, which also included camping. The very next day, we drove through our home region, Franconia, and could see motorhomes parked in the distance at sites that friends and acquaintances had been among the first to list on our platform. We were over the moon and thought to ourselves, “Hey, they’re really there because of us!!! It works.” Seeing our digital concept come to life in the real world for the first time was a great moment. As a startup, one of our biggest challenges is, of course, always raising capital, but we’ve managed that too.

Was sind eure Pläne für die nächsten Monate?

Our plan for the coming months is to put our company on a solid financial footing. We are currently working on becoming profitable and will achieve this goal this year.

Angenommen ihr bekommt eine Finanzierung in Höhe von 500.000 Euro. Was würdet ihr mit dem Geld machen?

That’s exactly the right question—we’re looking to raise exactly 500,000 euros at short notice for a major marketing campaign. So if you’re interested, please feel free to contact us.

Where do you see further potential for innovation in the tourism industry?

I believe the potential for innovation lies where people experience the most pain points. From my perspective, that’s everything related to booking travel. I’m not a fan of package tours, but putting together a trip on my own and booking every single night’s accommodation and mode of transportation is incredibly exhausting and doesn’t bring me any joy at all. In my opinion, this is where the greatest potential lies.

Welche Tipps würdet ihr anderen Gründern mit auf den Weg geben?

Don’t overthink it—a “quick and dirty” approach is better for startups than trying to offer the perfect solution before launch. Perfection always comes through many iterations and user feedback.