Kerry Roy is the founder of the renowned Camp Kátur, which was established in spring 2013 and has grown organically from 6 to 17+ different types of accommodation, hosting unique woodland weddings, annual festivals and much more.
In 2019 Kerry Roy opened a sister site, Cerchio Del Desiderio Glamping Retreat, in the region of Abruzzo, Italy. Having already been on a number of TV programs, most recently Kerry appeared on Channel 4’s A New Life in the Sun, documenting her work at Cerchio Del Desiderio.
International Glamping Business’ publisher Steph Curtis-Raleigh caught up with Kerry to ask a few questions about the show and the future of Cerchio del Desiderio.
“Did you have any idea what was going to be shown?“
They were filming me from June until October last year, so there was a lot that went in there and there was a lot that wasn’t shown because I had too much content. Because it was so long and I didn’t see any of the edits, I did forget a lot, so you do sometimes get concerned about what you said about your team. I’ve done TV before, but it’s usually been generalised about the business or a festival that we’ve worked on, but this time it was a lot more personal, so for me the nerves were definitely kicking in to watch the first scene.
“How did this opportunity come about?“
A friend had posted that the company were looking for people in Italy. It was their first time actually filming in Italy as they’ve always done France and Spain historically. I thought that it was a great opportunity because I feel like I’ve got a good story, especially with the site being the first glamping in central Italy of its kind.
“What are the pitfalls of letting the cameras follow you in a reality show like this?“
The amount of time it takes up was a lot, especially when you’re busy. Those that watched the program last week saw there were a lot of things that kept coming up, like staff not being able to work and other pressures and I really could have done with the camera not being on me at that time.
“Do you think it was a fair representation of your life running a glamping site single-handedly most of the time?“
Yes, it was at that time, but it wouldn’t be now. Obviously, that’s not a representation of how I run Camp Kátur because I’ve got a team in place that have been there many years and they run it probably better than me now. However, the program showed the first year of me opening so it was a whole new learning process. Even now, I feel like I’m still trying to find my feet and get it to where I’ve got the right people in the right place that I can trust to do it well so that I can then be doing all the other things in the background.
“What was your last line that you came out with on the show?“
Crazy, brave or stupid. That’s what I always used to say, I must be crazy to take all of this on, a lot of people say that I’m brave and I always disagree and say that I must be stupid. When you’re signing away at foreign documents that you don’t even understand, that’s the stupid part for sure. When starting a business, you don’t always have confidence, it’s something that comes with time, so no matter what the decision, always go crazy brave or stupid.
