The commitment of the Flower Campings group

What are the values ​​of the Flower Camping group in terms of sustainable development, and what are your missions:

Flower Camping is a chain of independent campsites linked by human values, conviviality and discovery in “human-sized” establishments. Flower Camping defends the idea that each site, despite its affiliation with a chain, must be unique to maintain integration with the environment and the region. We make a point of:

• Offer our travelers a change of scenery a few hundred kilometers from home, and an immersion in the local culture;
• Stimulate the local economy and enable the host destination and its inhabitants to preserve themselves;
• Offer green outdoor spaces, characteristic of the destination, ensuring landscape quality and connection to nature.

Sustainable development has been naturally integrated into our values ​​since the creation of the brand. In 2021, the Flower Camping brand initiated a partnership with the Clef Verte label, with the aim of labeling all our campsites by 2025.

It is not so easy for a tourist accommodation provider to reduce its impact: the pace is sustained during the 6 months of opening with many unforeseen events, the working methods are very anchored and the performances are dependent on the involvement of travelers. It therefore seemed wise to us to give our members time to anchor this change in their individual strategy and to ensure lasting and effective commitment.

On our campsite Flower Ile d'Offard de Saumur, we are fortunate to welcome a clientele that is rather sensitive to the preservation of the environment, travelers by bike, families seeking to reconnect with nature and ready to protect it!

The Ile d'Offard campsite has just been awarded the Clef Verte label. What are the main aspects and arrangements that enabled this label to be obtained?

How are customers informed of the campsite's ecological approach, and how are they made aware of it?

Our environmental charter is displayed at reception and accessible on theFlower Camping mobile app. There is also awareness of good practices in the different areas of the campsite. The success of the ecological project depends enormously on the collaboration of travelers, and it remains complex to give environmental instructions considered as constraints for vacationers...

We are currently considering the role of our establishments on the subject, and have published a survey noting the lack of information among the French on sustainable tourism: 76% of respondents consider that the concept is vague and that the eco-responsible actions of accommodation providers are not valued enough. It will probably take awareness-raising work, on the campsite but also on a large scale to change mentalities, and so that hosts and customers can evolve together in their ways of doing things and communicating.

What are your next projects in terms of sustainable tourism at the Saumur campsite?

Mobility is a major lever for limiting our environmental impacts and it is also a very sensitive subject for travelers, for whom the car is often considered essential. The Ile d'Offard campsite is however located less than 20 minutes on foot from the station, and the local mobility plan is efficient between public transport, tourist shuttle and cycle paths. We want to encourage alternative mobility as much as possible by strengthening communication on this subject. Also, we will soon install charging stations for electric vehicles.

Furthermore, Flower Camping implements more ecological mobile homes in collaboration with our supplier; we are seeking to continually improve the performance of this new rental by collecting rainwater to supply the toilets! Reversible air conditioners will also be fitted with a regulator in 2024 in order to avoid overconsumption, because cooling and heating rental properties remains a major consumption item.

In collaboration with local leaders, we wish to establish hedgerows to vegetate even more camping and offer nature animations, in partnership with the local branch of the Bird Protection League.