Safari Tents Vs Bell Tents – Which is Better?

If you happened to read our last post, you would have seen that we put together a comprehensive buying guide for glamping tents in Australia. We looked at the most common types of glamping tents for sale in the guide, which included safari tents, bell tents, and glamping teepees.

Today, we dive a little deeper into the types of glamping tents in Australia by putting safari tents head to head with bell tents. Both tents provide a range of pros and cons that should be considered in determining which is the better option for your glamping business.

While we class our Eco Tents as safari tents, we’re going to approach this article without bias to help you decide which type of glamping tents to invest in for your business. Of course, we hope you see that safari tents are the better option of the two and contact us for a quote ????.

Let’s start with a simple overview of the offering:

	Safari Tents	Bell Tents
Shape	Tent	Bell
Material	Cotton Canvas	Cotton Canvas
Installation	Moderate	Easy
Price
Longevity
Wind
Rain
Ventilation/AirFlow
Pacing Space
Footprint
Durability
Overall Rating

As you can see from the table above, safari tents come out on top. But, we will let you decide. Continue reading to discover the benefits and advantages of safari tents and bell tents.

Safari Tents

Safari Tents are at the top end of all glamping tents, providing the most home-away-from-home-like camping accommodation option for glamping businesses. Design-wise, they more closely resemble a typical tent than other glamping tent options, but they’re much larger in size, sturdier in construction, and are manufactured to a much higher level of quality. They present excellent opportunities for glamping business owners to maximise ROI through their ability to offer flexible configuration options and add-on facilities.

Best suited for:

• Couples
• Families
• Groups

Safari Tent Pros

The list of pros is plentiful with safari tents. First and foremost, as mentioned above, they provide the closest home-away-from-home experience of all glamping tents, which is what glamping is all about. They are significant in size, and guests can easily walk around in them, as they would a standard room. They also have no internal obstructions such as poles, allowing for flexible configuration – you can move furniture and beds around to maximise the use of space.

In terms of manufacturing, no other glamping tent comes close to safari tents. They’re manufactured from the very best fabrics and materials, and their erection is more of a construction process; a frame is formed from robust metal rods, which is then fixed to a permanent base. The structure is then completed with the addition of the roof, and the canvas surrounds. As such, safari tents have longevity above all other glamping tents.

Access and airflow have been carefully considered in safari tents. They generally feature zip-up entrance openings and multiple large windows, which have mesh layers to keep mosquitos and flies at bay.

Due to the construction and size, safari tents can also be enhanced with various optional features, guaranteed to attract a higher clientele and allow business owners the opportunity to offer varied rates based on features. One such feature an ensuite pod, which is available with the Eco Tent. The ensuite pod offers guest an even more luxurious glamping experience with private bathroom facilities. Another optional feature of the Eco Tent is a deck, which further enhances the guests’ glamping experience.

Safari Tent Cons

There really isn’t any cons associated with safari tents aside from the fact that they are the most expensive of all glamping tents. However, this is due to their superior manufacturing and longevity they offer.

Bell Tents

Bell tents are one of the most common glamping tents due to their affordability. Design-wise, they get their name from their shape, which resembles a bell. They are usually 2-3m in size, feature a circular floor space, and require a supporting centre pole to keep them erect. They’re simple in design, simple to install and a good base-entry glamping tent.

Best suited for:

• Couples

Bell Tent Pros

Bell tents offer various pros for glamping business owners. First and foremost is their affordability. They are much cheaper than the more robust safari tents, which is attractive to start-up glamping businesses. Moreover, due to their design simplicity- a centre pole with guy ropes attached around the circumference of the tent with pegs- they take very little time to install.

Another advantage of bell tents is their current attractions with younger demographics. Bell tents are the ‘poster child’ per se for glamping and are a popular choice for millennials.

As with safari tents, bell tents are also made from high-quality cotton canvas, coated with a waterproof membrane to make them waterproof.

Bell Tent Cons

In terms of using bell tents for a glamping business, there are several disadvantages to consider. First is their design – more specifically, the centre pole. The pole limits the configuration flexibility. You have to position beds around the pole, limiting the ability to maximise the use of space. Additionally, bell tents are typically small in size, limiting the ability to add additional furniture such as sofas, TVs, etc. As such, they are best suited for smaller numbers, such as couples and single guests.

Although bell tents are available in larger sizes up to 5 or 6 metres in diameter, they still offer limited pacing space. While you can stand tall in the centre of a bell tent, guests will likely have to crouch down or crawl around the edges due to their conical shape. There is a lot of dead, unusable space.

Installing a bell tent is similar to pitching a standard tent – only pegs hold them in place. Thus, they may not withstand rough weather conditions as well as safari tents, and as such, they won’t offer great longevity.

They feature just one later of material, canvas, and often only have small windows, or no windows at all. Thus, they don’t provide the same ventilation and airlow as safari tents and may limit the view which guests could otherwise enjoy.

Lastly, additional features such as private ensuite pods cannot be installed in bell tents due to their structure. This, in turn, limits your ability as a business owner to offer different rates based on luxury facilities, which can inhibit your potential ROI.

Conclusion

If you’re considering starting a glamping business, there are various glamping tents to consider. Two of the most common glamping tents are safari tents, such as our Eco Tents, and bell tents. Both offer pros and cons. The real decision is whether to invest more now for long-term revenue and a greater ROI or less now for short-term revenue and a fixed ROI.

If you’re in it for the long run and want to create a glamping business that’s going to be around for years to come, then investing in safari tents presents the better forecast. Safari tents may cost more initially, but they offer better longevity, more flexible configurations options, accommodate more guests and guest types, and allow for different rate levels based on add-on facilities.

If, however, you’re more interested in capitalising on the current glamping trend and only foresee this being a short-term business, then bell tents may be the better option. They are cheaper in price and more basic in design and construction. They don’t offer the same flexibility or customisation options as safari tents, but they are glamping tents, and that may be all you’re looking for.

If safari tents are your glamping tent of choice, then look no further than Eco Tents Australia. We’re safari tent specialists and offer a range of excellent tents in our Eco Tent range. With four different tents to choose between, multiple facility add-ons, and the highest quality Australian made tents in the county; you simply cannot beat the value for money and longevity our safari tents present.

Click here to view our range or call our sales team on +61 418 717 197 for more information on our Eco Tent range.