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From September 12 to September 13, the beginner class of the Camping Academy’s “Camp Operators” in-depth course, jointly created by the SMART Resort Industry Platform, Zhihui, Aijia Media, Zhixue Academy, and Camping China, and organized by Camping China, came to a successful close. The course attracted campsite owners and corporate executives from across the country to gather at Sun Valley, where they exchanged experiences with expert instructors. Starting from real-life cases, the program is dedicated to cultivating camp operators for the industry.
Returning to the original intent of camp construction, designing courses from multiple perspectives
As the first in-depth course in the camping industry following the establishment of the Camping Academy at Sun Valley, the beginner class of the “Camp Operators” course embodies the dedication and effort of the professional instructor team of the Camping Academy. Over the two days, every instructor shared the most essential parts of their courses with the participants. Theory, interaction, and case studies all contributed to making the course more comprehensive and refined.
Sun Jiandong: How to Enter the Leisure and Vacation Market Through Camps
The development of camps abroad has already entered a mature stage, which brings many valuable insights for the development of camps in China. Coupled with the frequent introduction of favorable policies in the camping industry in recent years and strong government support, the development of the camping industry has been greatly boosted.
Sun Jiandong, President of Sun Domain and Chief Architect of Sun Valley Campsite & Amusement Park
Mr. Sun Jiandong pointed out: China’s tourism industry has entered the second half, and with the advent of the self-driving tour era characterized by the integration of people and vehicles, failing to seize the opportunity to provide targeted services for self-driving users will ultimately lead to being phased out by the market. In this context, entering the leisure and vacation market from the perspective of camps opens up new doors for the development of the entire tourism industry. However, simply copying the management experience of mature camps abroad is clearly not advisable. Campsite owners also need to combine the characteristics of China’s tourism market and explore the unique features of their own camps.
At the same time, Mr. Sun Jiandong used the development of Sun Valley Campsite & Amusement Park as a case study to analyze how companies should plan and build suitable campsites, how to provide quality user services, and how to package peripheral products to increase the added value of campsites. He delivered insightful and practical lectures on campsite operations and elaborated in depth on how to gain users' recognition and sense of belonging by providing matching products and services from the user’s perspective. During his presentation, Mentor Sun Jiandong combined theory with practice, using the operational data from Sun Valley in August as a basis. This allowed participants to go beyond imagination and truly understand how to study changes in campsite operational data from an operator’s mindset.
Fu Quansheng: The Secrets of SOP in Campsite Operations Management
“Standardization” was one of the key terms emphasized by Instructor Fu Quansheng during his lecture. After years of development, tourism standardization has become a systematic framework, including national standards, industry standards, local standards, and enterprise standards. Unlike the common understanding of standardization, tourism standardization is actually about service standardization. With the rapid development of China’s tourism service industry, tourism standardization has gradually become an important means of regulating industry behavior, strengthening industry management, and improving operational service levels. As a dynamic force within the tourism industry, the campsite sector is closely related to standardization in terms of service quality, corporate culture, and customer expectations.
Fu Quansheng, Professor at East China Normal University and Director of the Shanghai Self-Drive (RV) Tourism Research and Development Center
During his lecture, Professor Fu Quansheng used numerous hotel service cases from the user’s perspective as evidence and interacted frequently with participants. He conveyed many complex theoretical concepts in a humorous manner, resonating with the audience.
Wang Xu: Exploring Cultural Tourism and Resort Scenarios from a Designer’s Perspective
In addition to operations and management, the initial design and planning of campsites are also crucial. Whether in the tourism industry or the cultural creativity industry, imagination is becoming the strongest productivity. Actively employing creative thinking models, embracing new business forms, and creating more innovative, culturally rich, and unique products can better attract consumers. This is also one of the ways to avoid homogenization in campsite construction.
Wang Xu, Secretary-General of the Expert Committee of the SMART Resort Industry
Mentor Wang Xu explained the importance of personalization in campsite design from a designer’s point of view, which is an area currently lacking or underdeveloped among industry practitioners. Every place has its unique local characteristics and cultural history, all of which can give rise to exclusive products. After hearing so much theoretical analysis from campsite management experts, perhaps looking at things from the angles of art and nostalgia could lead to more discoveries and innovations.
Jiang Yunchuan: A Documentary on SGP Campsite & Amusement Park Operations Management
As the General Manager of the Operations Center of Sun Domain Group, Mr. Jiang Yunchuan has extensive experience in campsite operations management. Regarding the organizational structure and roles of campsite personnel, team building, customer experience management, and campsite employee performance, Mentor Jiang Yunchuan shared his years of industry experience combined with specific examples from Sun Valley, providing valuable insights to all participants.
General Manager of the Operations Center of Sun Domain Group, Jiang Yunchuan
Providing thoughtful, concierge-style services to customers and family-like management approaches to employees, along with a team of versatile, hardworking staff, have allowed Sun Valley to precisely position itself while focusing on the most core aspects of its operations.
Zhang Chen: Enhancing the Added Value of the Camping Content Industry through Children’s Education
With the booming camping industry and growing attention to quality education in China, educational camps have become one of the hottest trends in campsite development. The concept of educational camps is not yet clearly defined in the eyes of Chinese parents. Issues such as how to choose the right, safe, and educational camps for children require serious consideration by industry practitioners.
Currently, the entire educational camp industry chain is beginning to take shape, and there is an even greater need for practitioners to focus on and think deeply about niche sectors. How to create educational camp programs where children can play and parents can relax? Mentor Zhang Chen, founder of Everkid Youth Outdoor Education, used numerous international case studies and an interactive, engaging teaching style to help participants better understand the importance of designing corresponding programs for parents while creating courses for children.
Founder of Everkid Youth Outdoor Education, Zhang Chen
Experiencing Different Course Formats, Knowing Others and Knowing Yourself
In addition to showcasing campsite operations through various course formats, the Camping Academy course organizing committee offered participants more diverse role-analysis activities. The personality color test during the ice-breaking session served as a warm-up before the first day of the course. Ms. Tang Zhao, Director of the Camp Operators Course, personally hosted the session. In addition to helping participants quickly get into a learning mindset, the test and subsequent case analyses provided everyone with a clearer understanding of how their personalities align with their work. While understanding the current state of the industry, it’s equally important to have a clear understanding of oneself.
Tang Zhao, Director of the Camp Operators Course
Camp operations encompass many aspects, and one of the essential components is food and beverage services. Unlike the standardized meals in hotels, camp dining is more like an upgraded version of a "farmhouse restaurant." For this course, we invited Chef Shen Haohong from Sun Valley to share his culinary stories at the dining table.
Chef Shen Haohong (right), Head Chef of Sun Valley, and Jiang Yunchuan (left), General Manager of the Operations Center, shared insights with participants.
“For the guests at Sun Valley, I’d rather treat them like my own family for every meal. Using the freshest ingredients and my most sincere attitude, I want my family to experience the greenest and healthiest lifestyle. When any guest who comes to the valley enjoys my food and gives me a thumbs-up, that’s when I’m happiest!” Chef Shen’s heartfelt words deeply moved the participants, and through his speech, they also gained some insights into food service in camp operations.
Many courses organize “campfire night talks” to help participants get to know each other and learn from one another, and this in-depth course was no exception. However, the Camping Academy Course Organizing Committee made this campfire session feel more like a dialogue among friends. Together, participants lit the bonfire, introduced themselves, and exchanged industry knowledge. Through these exchanges, we witnessed their expectations for the industry and their determination to contribute to and build the sector. We believe that in the future of the camping site industry, we will do even better and become more professional.
To certify the two-day course, the graduation ceremony also needed a sense of ritual.
Over the two days, participants gained knowledge and also found industry companions to strive with. The Camping Academy Course Organizing Committee also prepared graduation certificates for the participants, which were awarded jointly by Tang Zhao, Director of the Operators Course, and Mr. Zhang Chen, founder of Everkid Youth Outdoor Education. This certificate not only marked the end of the two-day operators course but also opened the door for many participants to become true campsite operators.
The development of the campsite industry in China is still in its early stages, and in the future, it will need more industry professionals to support its growth. The Camping Academy will leverage its professional expertise to cultivate more outstanding operators for the campsite industry, working together to build the sector.
The intermediate and advanced classes of the Camping Academy’s In-Depth Course on the Campsite Industry will be offered at a later date. We look forward to industry colleagues with a sense of responsibility and identification joining us to learn together.