Camping Business In France

Hello Valerie,

We have just been recommended your site by Richard Guest after some excellent initial advice from him.

We are considering opening a business in France following the sale of our property in the UK. Our initial idea is to use some experience we have with motorcycle touring to provide a specific holiday experience for motorcycle riders and pillions whilst touring in Southern France.

Our intention is to purchase a property to accommodate up to 12 people in luxury tents on a property of approx 3-5 hectares. Quality facilitites would be required to support the guests with meals provided by us on site in a relaxed atmosphere similar to that on a ski chalet holiday. We do not intend to offer our facilities to passing trade but to rely on pre-booked guests from the UK.

Our question is one of permits, licences, and insurances. Do we need a licence to operate this type of business, will the tents need planning permission if they are left erected all summer, and will we need to declare our target audience ie bikers.

There are some similar businesses in France such as canvaschic.com which run eco friendly holidays however we aim to concentrate on luxury and provision of food which is often a problem for touring bikers as they cannot carry too much on a motorcycle due to space constraints. Whilst our business would accommodate people in tents, the business model is more akin to gites / chambre d’hote than camping hence the questions surrounding licences

Tks