Wander Farm Camp
A school camp on a leased farm an hour from Dubai. Business plan and investment case.
Summary
Wanderlust Events needs a AED 200,000 loan to open a school camp on a leased farm about an hour from Dubai in time for its first booked school in December 2026. The loan is repaid in full from school booking income by the end of the 2026/27 season.
- The business: overnight school camps, 40 teepees under a date forest, with a pool, grid power, air-conditioned indoor space and coach access. Schools pay for beds and meals; activity companies or the school run the programme.
- Why it works: the operator has already run this model, with AED 1.8M of school revenue in a peak season at her previous mountain camp. Very few UAE sites can sleep a full year group, so demand exceeds supply.
- First booking: an Al Ain school, 100 students for 4 nights, quoted at AED 120,000.
- The ask: AED 200,000 as a loan, not equity. It covers the minimum launch: equipment, bathroom blocks, teepees and site repairs.
- Repayment: from school income, starting with the balance payments on the first bookings. The proposed schedule is below.
The site
The farm is leased whole for AED 150,000 a year, paid quarterly. It is about 200 × 180 m with two entrances, about 150 m of track off the main road.
| Area | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Date forest | 40 teepees in pods of 3–4 (start with 20), 5 students per teepee |
| Main house | Dining, indoor sessions and screen talks, crew rooms, air-conditioned |
| Pool | Swimming sessions; ladders and edge to be repaired |
| Kitchen + two 40 ft containers | Cooking, cold store and prep kitchen |
| Orangery + cactus garden | Event space for up to 400: weddings, launches |
| Bathroom blocks (containers) | 4 toilets + 4 showers each, male and female |
| Phase 2 land | Court, zip line, 6 A-frame cabins, splash pool |
Why it beats the old mountain camp:
- Coach access: buses and taxis reach it; the mountain road flooded.
- Grid electricity: no diesel generators, and air-conditioning stretches the season.
- Quieter: no neighbouring party camps.
- Lower risk: no flooding and fewer snakes than in the mountains.
Two farm workers stay on (about AED 2,000 a month each) to look after the dates and grounds. The landlord is open to deferring the first rent payment to January and to contributing to repairs.
The market
UAE private schools send pupils on an overnight trip every year, but only about six sites in the country can sleep a whole year group. We found 60+ schools with evidence of buying residential trips. Most British and IB schools run them from Year 4 (1 night) to Year 6 (3 nights), plus Week Without Walls for Grades 6–9 and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions.
- Season: October to April. December is the first half-term window; February to April is the peak.
- How schools buy: through activity companies that run the programme but have no camp of their own (Emirates Adventures, Adventure Quest, ECC, The Adventure Centre, Sand Sherpa), or directly. The big groups (GEMS, Taaleem, Aldar, about 95 schools) buy only from approved-provider lists run by Camps International.
- Who we don't compete with: North Star (Dibba), Bear Grylls Explorers Camp and Hatta, which fill their own beds.
| Current market price | AED |
|---|---|
| The Adventure Centre, 2 days / 1 night | 1,200 per student |
| The Adventure Centre, 3 days / 2 nights | 2,300 per student |
| Bear Grylls Camp, 5 days / 4 nights | 2,600 per student |
| Week Without Walls, 3–4 nights (Ecoventure, Challenging Adventure) | 2,495–3,220 per student |
| Wanderlust, beds + meals only | about 300 per student per night |
Our price covers beds and food only. The activity company adds its programme on top, so we sit well inside what schools already pay.
Track record
Vren has 25 years in events and ran a school camp in the mountains for three seasons, peaking at AED 1.8M of school revenue in one season. Those bookings came through a large activity-company partner and ran at 90–180 students each.
- Events: Laureus Awards (103 people, 5-day hike, 3 moving camps; invoice AED 333,400), INEOS Grenadier launch, KTM, BMW and Emirates Adventures.
- Schools: residential camps plus Duke of Edinburgh groups.
- Reputation: activity-company operators already know her and have asked to see the new site. One has already visited and offered AED 30,000 a year for exclusive use, which she declined.
- Margin: she estimates it at about 70% gross on school bookings. Food runs at about AED 30 per student for the whole stay.
Revenue and Year 1 model
Schools pay the bills; the other four streams are upside. The school calendar allows 12 bookable weeks a season, midweek only, with up to two schools a week. That gives a ceiling of 24 bookings, and 10–15 is realistic in a full season.
| Stream | When | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Schools (primary) | Midweek, Dec–Apr | About AED 300 per student per night; AED 50k–120k per booking |
| Community groups (cyclists, hikers, yoga, wellness) | Weekends | To be set |
| Venue hire (weddings, car and corporate launches, up to 400) | Weekends, off-season | To be set |
| Weekend café (booked only: roasts, barbecues) | Weekends | To be set |
| Boutique glamping, 6 A-frame cabins (Phase 2) | Year-round | AED 800–1,200 a night |
Year 1 (Dec 2026 – Apr 2027), schools only. The season is part-sold because many schools booked in March, so Year 1 is modelled below the full-season range.
| AED | Low | Base | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| School bookings | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| Average booking | 60,000 | 70,000 | 80,000 |
| School revenue | 300,000 | 560,000 | 960,000 |
| Gross margin at 70% | 210,000 | 392,000 | 672,000 |
| Fixed costs (rent 150k, farm staff 48k, licence 20k) | 218,000 | 218,000 | 218,000 |
| Cash left to repay the loan | –8,000 | 174,000 | 454,000 |
Assumptions to confirm: the 70% gross margin (it needs to cover camp staff, not just food), camp staffing costs, and whether the landlord defers the first rent payment. In the Low case the loan runs into Season 2. Year 2 is a full season: 10–15 bookings at AED 50k–70k is AED 600k–1M of school revenue before the other streams.
Phased investment
AED 200,000 opens the camp. A further AED 300,000 in Phase 1 makes it comfortable, and Phase 2 adds the higher-margin cabins and event space.
| Phase | What it buys | AED |
|---|---|---|
| 1A — Launch (the loan) | Equipment bought from the old camp: teepee frames, bathroom containers, furniture | 90,000 |
| Site repairs: pool, roof leak, paint, kitchen (cooker, sink, cabinets) | 50,000 | |
| 20 new teepees or canvas covers (dome tents as fallback) | 25,000–40,000 | |
| Bedding, linen, furniture, other | 20,000–35,000 | |
| Phase 1A total | 200,000 | |
| 1B — Full Phase 1 | 40 teepees, full pool renovation, main-house French doors and terrace, orangery shade and paths, cold-store and prep containers | about 300,000 more (500,000 in all) |
| 2 — Growth | 6 A-frame cabins (about 25,000 each), court, zip line, splash pool, orangery fit-out | 150,000+ |
Phase 1B and Phase 2 are paid from Season 1 profit or other investors, not from this loan. A new business licence (RAK free zone, about AED 15,000–20,000) is needed before schools can sign company-to-company.
Loan repayment (proposed)
The proposal: Niels lends AED 200,000 and is repaid in four instalments from school balance payments, finishing by the end of April 2027 in the Base case. Schools pay a 25% deposit on booking and the balance before arrival, so cash arrives before each camp runs.
| When | Paid from | Repayment (AED) | Repaid to date (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| End Dec 2026 | Al Ain school balance (AED 90,000) | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| End Feb 2027 | February school balances | 50,000 | 90,000 |
| End Mar 2027 | March school balances | 50,000 | 140,000 |
| End Apr 2027 | April school balances | 60,000 | 200,000 |
- Protection: 30% of every school balance payment goes to the loan until it is repaid, whatever the date.
- Security: the teepees, containers and equipment bought with the loan can be pledged against it.
- Low case: if fewer than 8 schools book, the balance rolls into the first months of Season 2 (Oct–Dec 2027).
To agree with Niels: interest or a flat fee, if any, and whether he wants the 30% rule or fixed dates.
Risks and mitigations
The biggest risk is timing: Season 1 is part-sold and the site must be ready for school visits by the end of October.
| Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Schools already booked elsewhere for 2026/27 | Target December and Feb–Apr gaps now; pitch activity companies whose sites have closed or are full |
| Teepees take 8 weeks | Reuse the 40 frames from the old camp with new canvas; dome tents (3–4 weeks) as fallback |
| No licence yet | RAK free-zone licence registered this month, before any school contract |
| Relying on one large intermediary | Spread bookings across several activity companies and direct schools; 25% non-refundable deposits |
| Repairs cost more than budgeted | Landlord asked to fund the roof and pool; the full pool fix can wait until Season 2 |
| Compliance for school groups | Remove poultry from the site; written risk assessments, insurance, first aid and 1:10 staffing ratios in place before the first visit |
Launch timeline
The loan needs to land in early October so bathrooms are on site by the end of October and the first school arrives in December.
- Loan agreed with Niels; landlord on site to agree repairs — by 4 Oct 2026
- RAK free-zone licence applied for; teepee canvas or dome tents ordered; Al Ain booking confirmed with deposit — by 11 Oct 2026
- Bathroom containers on site, main house tidied, site open for school and operator visits — by 31 Oct 2026
- First school camp (Al Ain, 100 students, 4 nights) — 1 Dec 2026
- Peak season, up to two schools a week — February to April 2027