Many times the idea of traveling to the countryside is related to disconnection from the digital world, but getting closer to nature can also come hand in hand with technology, and this was demonstrated by Juan Suárez, a software developer who, in the middle of the field, in Rivera, created a technological glamping.
What is glamping? It is a camping with glamorIn other words, accommodation in the countryside with the amenities of a hotel, and which in this case has a digital complement: to open the gates, enter the houses, the tents and the bathroom, you must use a code.
Analia Pereira
Juan lives in Montevideo, but he was encouraged to undertake in the middle of the field, in Rivera.
Juan lives in Montevideo, but four years ago he began to link up with his company Arkano Software (recent winner of Migrosoft Latam Partner of the Year) with the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC) at the Riverside headquarters.
After traveling so much to the department of red dirt roads to work, he saw a property that was for sale in the Valle del Lunarejo area, and with his sights set on various tourist developments that after the pandemic gained strength in the place, he was encouraged. to undertake. “It made me want to invest,” he commented to Coffee & Business.
Little by little and with the idea of forming a glamping with three proposals that would attack different audiences, Villa Pancha was born, a property where there are lodges (small houses with private bathrooms and kitchens), teepees (tents with beds inside), a Shared kitchen inside a dome, bathrooms, and a parking lot with various services for those who travel by motorhome, such as a place to discharge gray and black water, a sink, and a counter.
Analia Pereira
digital services
Technology has always been in Juan’s life, and it was no exception when he began to think about how to start a business.
If his venture has one characteristic, it is that it is “quite independent,” he said. “It’s not like a traditional inn, we use digital a lot”said.
When a person reserves a lodge, a teepee or when they want to go to Villa Pancha in their motorhome or mobile home, they receive a numerical password that they can then use to open the gates, the doors of the houses, the bathroom or the locks of the teepees.
In addition, through the web you can contract the gastronomy proposal for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner, which will be received at the house every day that is requested; and it will also be possible to coordinate different tourist proposals in the area, such as excursions to the Valle del Lunarejo, to the Cascada del Indio or truck rides over the Lunarejo stream, initiatives of other tour operators that work in the place.
Villa Pancha is located within the Valle del Lunarejo protected landscape, where various adventure tourism activities are available.
Analia Pereira
The lodges have a private bathroom and kitchen.
All the glamping proposals have electricity and heating, and in the center of the property there is a games room with a shared kitchen and a wood stove. Juan explained that the idea of the venture is to develop tourism for couples or groups of friends, although many families are also received. According to him, he stressed, the proposal is designed to rest after doing the different activities that are in the area.
Rates at this campsite range from $30 to $130 a night, depending on what it is. Lodges are $90 per night Monday through Thursday and $130 on weekends; teepees US$40 and US$50 respectively; and in the case of entering a motorhome the cost of parking is US$ 30 any day of the week.
Analia Pereira
Juan in the shared kitchen.
Teamwork
The entrepreneur said that workers from the area were in charge of building the teepees and lodges, as well as assembling the dome, and recalled that part of the decoration, such as some pictures in which animals can be seen, were made by a his former classmate from elementary school.
Teamwork surrounds this venture, not only since its construction but also now, during its development, since glamping is part of the places that the initiative of businessmen, entrepreneurs and tour operators Binational Destinationwhich aims to highlight the advantages of vacationing in a place like the department of Rivera, with easy access to Santana del Livramento, and several advantages when it comes to sightseeing.
Analia Pereira
Each house is opened with a code that is sent to the client at the time of reservation.
