Sustainable Camping Vacations for Everyone: Ahoy, Fehmarn!
For decades, cheap flights and global mobility shaped German vacation habits – often at the expense of the environment. Meanwhile, domestic camping has carried outdated associations: crowded sites, limited comfort, and poor facilities. Despite its sustainable potential, according to Statista only 17% of 14- to 29-year-olds go camping in Germany.
Together with Ahoi Bullis, a Hamburg-based camper van rental company, and hospitality expert Ann Van Wetteren, we set out to change that by breathing new life into Camp Fehmarn, an aging campground in northern Germany. Our goal: to create a modern, family-friendly camping destination that combines sustainability, comfort, and a love of nature.
We designed a camping experience that appeals to both seasoned campers and newcomers – particularly younger travelers and families. The result is Ahoi Camp Fehmarn, a reimagined site that blends natural beauty with smart design and thoughtful amenities.
Project Overview
Client: Camper’s Friend GmbH
On behalf of: NEW STANDARD.S
My role: Project Lead
Timeline: July 2021 – February 2022
My Role
Designed and facilitated a vision workshop with all four founding members
Developed the overall concept for Ahoi Camp Fehmarn
Created the branding briefing for NEW STANDARD.STUDIO GmbH
Led project management across concept, design, and coordination
Our Approach
Our first step was aligning the vision. We ran a collaborative workshop with the founding members to answer key questions:
What kind of experience should Ahoi Camp offer?
What facilities actually matter – for families, digital nomads, and nature lovers alike?
How can we design a site that respects and enhances the surrounding nature reserve?
From there, we created a holistic concept that balances comfort, sustainability, and community:
Attractive washhouses with private family bathrooms
A cozy café and indoor playground for rainy days
A sauna with lake views for year-round relaxation
Planned additions like educational activities for kids and shared cooking facilities to deepen sustainability and social interaction
The entire site is embedded in a protected natural area, which we honored with onsite educational and communicative measures to help guests engage with the landscape respectfully.
Sustainability Impact
By making camping competitive with long-distance travel, Ahoi Camp directly contributes to:
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production: By positioning regional vacations as a desirable and comfortable alternative to air travel, we help shift consumer behavior toward lower-impact tourism
CO₂ reduction: Offering high-quality domestic alternatives reduces the reliance on air travel, one of the most carbon-intensive activities in modern life