The other day, we took part in an interesting Twitter conversation (if we had a dollar for every time that happens) about whether or not naturism should become more commercial and whether there is a need for naturist business models. Will it improve naturism as we know it? Or will it backfire and take down the whole non-profit concept on which naturism was initially built? Will fully embracing capitalism be the next step towards normalizing nudity? Or will it just open the door (even more) for naturism to become sexualized?
Naturism should always be free
Let’s start with the beginning, a tweet from our friend Hector Martinez who is known not to fear throwing controversial topics on the table: “Until naturism becomes a profitable industry, society and our institutions won’t see the value in it. Morality is flexible when it comes to capitalism. Want to normalize nudity? Make naturism a profitable industry.”
Someone immediately threw in a big “NO”. No, because naturism should be a human right and should always be free. Of course, this person was absolutely right. Of course, everyone should be free to undress and spend some time in the nude. But that was not the point that Hector wanted to make.
Compare it with exercising. It’s 100% free to exercise. You can wake up in the morning and do a couple of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and planks, and nobody could ever charge you for that. But yet, there’s a billion-dollar industry built around exercising. There are workout videos, workout magazines, attributes you can buy, gyms where you can perform better than at home, private coaches who make sure that you do everything right, there’s even a whole food industry focusing specifically on those who like to exercise.
What’s a naturist business?
Just like ourselves, Hector is a “naturist content creator”. Someone who creates videos, photos, blogs, etc with the purpose of informing people about naturism and all its different facets. We’re both making a living from this, through advertising and sponsorship (like Patreon), and by selling guides and merchandising. Our businesses are as capitalist as can be, because they totally rely on the law of supply and demand. If nobody’s interested in what we do, we won’t make any money and our businesses will fail. Period.
Naturist content creators are still rare, at the moment. A much better-known type of naturist business is the resort. Just like the gym in the previous example, a resort provides facilities for naturists. Yes, you can be naked at home or in nature for free, but you may not have your own pool, volleyball court, or sauna. Or you may want to meet other naturists, but don’t exactly want to invite them all into your own home. That’s the service that is provided by naturist resorts. A service you need to pay for.
The advantage of naturist businesses
Over the years, we’ve seen many naturist content creators come and go. They start with the best intentions but quit soon after because they run out of inspiration, or didn’t realize how much time and effort goes into writing blog posts, creating videos, or editing photos. It’s a hobby that takes a lot of your time (and costs quite a lot in equipment) and it can take a long time before you get any return in terms of readers, followers, and engagement.
Because this is our job, and a job we wouldn’t want to lose for the world, we aren’t just able to put a lot of hours into this, we’re also taking this very seriously. The same applies to resorts, many of the best resorts we’ve visited around the world are professional organizations rather than non-profit clubs. If a resort needs to depend uniquely on volunteers, the things they can accomplish also uniquely depend on the skills of those volunteers. If they can hire paid staff, on the other hand, their only limitation is money. And if you have a great idea, it’s just much easier to find a loan than to find a qualified person willing do to it for free.
The danger of commercial naturism
Does this mean that the future of naturism would be a lot brighter if it completely became commercial? That’s something you’ll never hear us say either. There are quite some examples of naturist businesses gone wrong once money got involved. The most known one is probably “naturist village” Cap d’Agde. It started out as a paradise for naturists on the French Mediterranean coast. But then investors started to realize that they could hugely increase their profits if they expanded their market. As a result, the first thing we saw when we entered Cap d’Agde was a billboard announcing a swingers party.
In content creation, there are similar pitfalls. While some naturist content creators just disappeared, others realized that there’s a huge audience out there that’s willing to pay for “sexy naturist content”. It’s not a coincidence that you’ll find many more young naturist women on the internet than at any naturist resort. Or even at all naturist resorts combined, probably.
Finding the balance
Long story short, we don’t believe that naturism can grow (or even survive) if it completely depends on a non-profit mindset. Nor do we believe that it can survive if money will be the most important driver. We believe that the combination of ideology and a business model is the way forward. Knowing how to make a naturist business or organization profitable, while keeping the values high.
This is how both we and Hector run our businesses, and only the future will tell if we made the right decision or if this whole blog post is just completely baloney. Well, the future and you. Because if you stop reading our blog posts, following us on social media, or watching our videos, our whole naturist business model will collapse.
So here’s an obvious question: What do you think about naturist business models?
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When naturist sites cut their prices by 25% or more &make it easier for singles to holiday au naturel then the world will be a better place !!SRxx
In our experience, there are naturist places for all budgets. Of course, the more they charge, the better facilities they can provide. So it’s always a choice. But we don’t believe that naturist resorts are overcharging.
This is always a bit complicated. Yeah, you need, if you plan to provide such, to make enough money to pay to maintain facilities (and pay property taxes, where that is a thing), but the flawed thinking of a lot of businesses (and this is as true of city main streets as it is of shopping malls), is that when you start losing money to solution is to raise the rent (or entry costs, as the case may be). This is sometimes the direct opposite of what is needed.
With naturism this could be worse, since, yep, if you are losing money you might need the rates to go up, or you could have something like “open days”, but that has its own problems, obviously. Go too far down the “raise rates” path though and… you end up with an empty shopping mall – or resort, and no money coming in at all.
Ironically, I think that Florida had one of the better ideas (ironic being that its Florida, and they tend to be the butt of jokes, aka “Florida Man”, and over burdened with conservatism – the neighborhood where the front street is, “you have to be clothed, due to it being a public neighborhood”, but the whole back section is connected to “clothing optional”, and a naturist area.
But, yeah.. when money gets involved it gets complicated..
Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen too in naturist resorts and clubs. When there’s less income, they just raise the prices. Needless to say that this is very short-term thinking. It hurts the dedicated members and it might even push the potential new members further away.
Don’t get us wrong, we do believe that prices need to be updated now and then. But less income is rarely a good reason. Instead, they need to look at how to increase the value. How they could get more members and eventually raise the prices.
The commercial success of resorts will be key to expanding acceptance naturism. My experience in trying naturism was spawned by the desire to camp naked, free of clothing, a relaxing time in nature; however not wanting any drama of “oh gawd you are naked!” when making my morning coffee on the fire was paramount to the relaxing part. The security of not being hassled by textiles or fear of arrest makes resorts particularly attractive and something I am willing to pay for, at this point, even if it means I cannot get out as much as I would like. Free nude beaches are so few and far between here that just making a day of it is more trouble than it is worth, 4 hours driving for a couple of hours of naked time, spending a couple of days camping makes the travel worth the effort.
The more successful resorts there are the more positive economic benefits to the community at large are going to be seen and more positive experience will help normalize the idea of naturism as part of our community and not something that will be fought by the NIMBY crowd. We need to be good neighbors.
My wife and I have stayed at several quality resorts and campsites in France, Spain and Croatia, all of which I would consider have a good business model, based on professionalism.
Contrast this with naturism in Britain, where clubs, including those supposedly trying to attract visitors, as well as members, are stuck in an amateur, makeshift mindset – what we would describe to fellow Brits as ‘more Butlin’s than Centerparcs’ (Centerparcs being a more upmarket, more expensive version of the old-fashioned (textile) holiday camp). The overwhelming impression of naturism in Britain is it organised by people as a hobby rather than a business, which partly explains why it is mostly practised by retired people and other oldies, rather than modern young families, and is therefore in serious decline.
Venues – whether clubs or resorts – are important. They are usually the way in to proper naturism (rather than just sitting on a beach), and we both strongly believe that if those venues have a professional, modern approach and treat it as a proper business, far more people would be attracted to naturism.
We think that the main reason why the UK doesn’t have such splendid naturist resorts is that it’s not really a naturist vacation destination. You can see the same in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. The British, Belgians, Dutch, and Germans collectively travel to Spain, France, and Croatia for their summer naturist vacations. But few French, Spanish, or Croatians will travel in the opposite direction…
I think you’re wrong there, the UK is very much a naturist destination. Survey’s have shown that there are around 3.7 million people in the UK that consider themselves Nudists or Naturists. Then of course there are those who don’t consider themselves in those categories but still go nude. Again, surveys have shown that 25% of Brits have swum or sunbathed nude.
I think the main reason there aren’t any naturist resorts is we don’t need them. You have to realise that the UK is a relatively small island compared to the USA, Spain, France and the rest of Europe. The furthest point you can possibly be from a beach in the UK is at a small village called Coton in the Elms in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands, and that is 70 miles from a beach.
A huge percentage of the poulation are only 30 minutes to 45 minutes from a beach. We have so many beaches, more than 20 officially designated naturist beaches, probably 40 or more unofficial (accepted through decades of use) naturist beaches, and a law that allows nudity on any beach, that there is no real need for resorts. Many people are happy to drive from home to a beach then drive home again and repeat that the next day. But those who prefer to stay near to a beach have so many options, from hotels, B&B’s, rental cottages, caravan and campsites and holiday parks, and some of those are naturist.
Also, as I have mentioned in another post, our weather is much better than some foriegners believe. Certainly in the main summer months we are getting temperatures in the thirties celcius.
North Wales is one of my favourite places and beaches that I like to go to there range from 40 minutes away, an hour and 20 minutes away to two hours away. Two of those are surrounded by spectacular scenery, and as they are in the gulf stream, they have warm water and air during the summer, and on cloudless days in the sun you could easily believe you were in Spain.
We do have a lot of naturist clubs too, which a lot of older naturists tend to go to.
There are also more and more nude activities such as skinny dips, World Naked Bike Ride (which takes place in 22 seperate cities), often for charities or to raise awareness of something. Recently, an outdoor swimming club local to me held a skinny dip and BBQ for charity and it was so popular they’re making it a regular thing.
Coupled with the British mentality, which is different to other countries, I think this is why we don’t have naturist resorts. We simply don’t need them.
As of now the only way to be nude is at home or at a closed camp/resort which is usually an open area full of as many trailers as possible. Some are better than others.
They provide facilities needed for this style of camping.
What I’d like to see is Provincial Park style camping in the nude. I’m in Canada. Many resorts have a large property but use only a small part of it to keep facilities as localized as possible due to cost. I’d like to see this spread out into the trees to simulate a PP as much as possible. Having another trailer ten feet from your face takes a lot of the joy out of camping.
Maybe a campaign to set aside a portion of an existing park for nude camping might be successful. But not likely, not in Canada. Too many uptight people.
Have you ever been to Sunward in Calabogie, Ontario?
That might be exactly what you are looking for…
https://www.nakedwanderings.com/review-sunward-near-ottawa-canada/
Personally I would really like to see health clubs like used to exist during the old YMCA.. as i read about them it seemed like a good place for people to ho exercise and swim and was focused on health. I also wonder if gender segregation would make women feel safer or make it a little less sexual?
You don’t really find many of those clubs anymore. In the past, naturism has been very much about healthy living and sports, but during the last decades, it has mostly transformed towards relaxation, mindfulness, sustainable living, etc. Which we definitely don’t see as a bad thing, but if you really like the concept of health clubs, you’ll find fewer and fewer of those.
The good news is that naturist sport activities are now returning in the form of events. In the US, you’ll often find 5K runs and in Europe there are many swimevents. Volleyball tournaments seem to be popular around the world.
As an owner of a Naturist/Nudist focused business, it was very much a “capitalist” mindset that led us into it, specifically: filling a void. Before hand, as “amateurs” (and not even realizing that “Naturism” per-se was “a thing”) we simply recognized that there just aren’t enough nude beaches in the world. And on that point I think there is near unanimous consensus in the Naturist/Nudist community.
So we took the plunge – which meant pouring our blood, sweat & tears, not to mention ALL of our capital (plus a little bit more) into buying, creating, maintaining, advertising, operating, and building the business. (And I must confess – if the object of “capitalism” is merely to get rich – we are lousy capitalists). But I also must confess to a great frustration that even though we “fill a void” that nearly all Naturists/Nudists acknowledge, there is such great resistance among many Naturists to actually support the businesses that do the hard work (and expense) of providing safe spaces to “skip & go naked”. Sure, in the Garden of Eden we can all wander about naked in bliss. But in the modern world we actually live in most venues require “capital” to make it possible. We can only provide the safe spaces if Naturists support these efforts, not just with ideology but with their pocketbooks. Otherwise, don’t complain that there aren’t enough places in the world to “skip & go naked”.
Well said, Murph. I appreciate your admirable restraint in not using Nick & Lins’s platform to put in a plug for your own business. But with Nick & Lins’s kind permission, I’m sure I’m not the only reader who would like to know the name & location of your business. After all, we can’t patronize your establishment if we don’t know who & where you are.
Nick & Lins have visited our little slice of paradise, and have graciously mentioned us in a favorable light in several different blog posts. We also see our beach & background in many of the photos they use for general purposes, which always brings a smile to our faces. But I don’t want this to be a commercial for our selfish purposes, so I’ll only give a hint:
All You Need is Your Smile 😉
(see Naked Wanderings posts about nudity in Mexico)
We definitely have, and after so many experiences at naturist resorts, Playa Sonrisa is still one of the most memorable ones. One that was a source of some of our best pictures and one we still often talk about. In fact, just yesterday we told the story about how you had stressed that we should not come by public transport and we didn’t listen 😀
This is exactly what naturist organizations are suffering from as well. In the past, they had to fight for every beach and piece of land and were very much appreciated for that. But during the recent decades, these beaches and resorts have just been there. We, personally, have never known a world without nude beaches. And only because of our travels and the many talks with those who engaged in organized naturism, we learned about all the time, effort, and money that has been put into getting naturism established and that it’s not something we should take for granted
Hi could you please email me details on holidaying on one of your naturism sites please location in Italy prices and another costs thanking you Mr l jones
Hi, we don’t own naturist venues, you better contact them directly
Hello Nick and Lins, thanks for this article on Commercial Naturism. I wrote an article on this sometime ago on my blog. It’s here https://aunaturelwellness.blogspot.com/2020/07/naturist-businesses.html?m=1
I feel that is Naturism is going to be seen as a viable engagement by the textile world it will need to have both a Cultural (eg. Artworks, Theatre productions etc) and Commercial (eg. Amusement parks, Restaurants, Coffee shops etc.) component to it. I agree that the business owners ought to be fully aware of and practicing Naturist ideals in order for it to work. Thank you
I agree 100% with what you wrote. Naturism should not be any different from many other “industries”, and actually is not really. But, and you mentioned this, we, naturists and nudists, are sitting on a fence (and it’s almost a barbed wired one), the fence of sexuality, as a vast majority of people are sexualizing nudity. What you and Hector are doing is awesome. Are there spaces for more? Certainly. We need to keep repeating again and again that nudism and naturism are healthy, family and normal lifestyles. Nudist federations and associations need to be more vocal wherever they are, and the example of BN is for sure one to emulate.
I think naturists and nudists should grab many opportunities lying in front of us: climate change, tolerance and peaceful dialogue…
The big question that has been turning in my mind for years is how to normalize nudity, and to untie it from the sexual angle. The day we find the silver bullet will be the day naturism will expand dramatically for the good of humanity. Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one (at least it seems)!
“The big question that has been turning in my mind for years is how to normalize nudity, and to untie it from the sexual angle”
We strongly believe that mainstream media is the way forward for that. This is why we take every opportunity to talk about naturism in newspapers, on TV, etc and why we try to avoid shocking people with full-frontal nudity.
“SHOCKING PEOPLE WITH FULL-FRONTAL NUDITY????” How dare we say this as naturists, there’s nothing wrong with the nude body. True, but we shouldn’t forget that other people think otherwise. If you want someone to realize that being gay is okay, you’re not going to bombard him/her with images of 2 men or women kissing. No matter how normal it is, it would appear to be shocking. Instead, you introduce them to gays, who are smart, funny, likable,… The same with naturism. We’ve always stressed that we are a normal couple, doing normal things. And, by the way, we’re naturists too.
Spot on! You’re absolutely right, this is THE way to promote naturism. Keep on your valuable work in promoting this approach.
The business model seems pretty obvious: naturist resorts take premium for protection from unfair mainstream rules.
Naturist resorts are not interested in spreading acceptance for nudity. Their very core depends on existing bans and fears. What would be the purpose of “naturist” place if nudity was accepted everywhere ?
Good they are there in our imperfect world, they make it a better place.
Bad we must pay this premium at all.
I would like to be wrong.
We’d like to rephrase that… Bad naturist resorts wouldn’t have a purpose if naturism became widely accepted. Good naturist resorts still would.
Unfortunately, there are resorts that only exist because they are the only place where you can get naked. They are the kind that don’t support naturist events or nude beaches because they see them as competition.
Good resorts, on the other hand, provide great facilities to the naturists. They will support events and beaches because they know that as naturism grows, their market will as well.
As we mention in the blog post, you can compare this with gyms. Everyone can exercise for free if they wish, but gyms keep existing because they provide additional services. It’s the same with (good) naturist resorts.
Let me understand,
Bad resorts are of no purpose. Be it bad naturist resort or a textile one. Correct.
All facilities in naturist places are available in their mainstream counterparts. When nudity becomes widely accepted in society what would be the reason to brand a resort “FKK” ?
Don’t get me wrong. I am by no means against naturist resorts and it’s great they exist at all. I just see “FKK” branding as temporary fix and temporary alliance.
Even when nudity becomes widely accepted, there will still be naturists because it’s about more than just being naked. These naturists will try to find their like-minded naturists and that’s why naturist resorts will keep existing. It’s the same reason why gay bars still exist in countries where homosexuality is widely accepted.
“These naturists will try to find their like-minded naturists”
hmm… ok, clear.
Thanks and good luck for all resort owners!
Sorry, but this is a long comment!
Commercialising Naturism is an interesting concept.
In terms of resorts like Cap d’Agde, I can see how that works both as a financially successful business and good for naturism – except: If you Google Cap d’Agde you find images and videos of a sexual nature. I’ve never been there but I believe from what I’ve read that there is a part of it where people openly have sex, women giving their partners blow jobs and hand jobs, and full-on sex, while surrounded by hundreds of other people. Also, a popular porn thing on the internet is “Public Nudity”, aimed at people who are turned on by the thought of, particularly women, walking around the streets in the nude. Many of the images and videos that come up on these websites, not all by a long way, but still a lot, are taken/filmed at Cap d’Agde. I’m not sure how that helps to convince the general public that naturism/nudism is non-sexual. I would probably still go there for a holiday though.
I don’t think private clubs are a good thing for naturism/nudism though. They are dinosaurs and should similarly become extinct. The whole “behind closed doors” secrecy thing doesn’t give the lifestyle a very positive image in the public eye.
One commercial aspect of naturism/nudism that I don’t think has been mentioned in this discussion is that of normal businesses that can benefit from it. For example, there is a large area on the Island of Anglesey in North Wales, UK, which has been used by naturists and nudists for 60 years but is not a designated area. Many people do know about it and are accepting, although there are some who are opposed. But there is growing support and pressure from within the local authorities to make part or parts of the area officially nude. And the stated reason for that is that it will bring more business into the local area for the ordinary local businesses. North Wales relies a lot on the tourist industry, and they’re beginning to realise that naturists/nudists have money to spend. So local hotels, B&B’s, shops, petrol stations, restaurants, pubs, etc., can all potentially benefit from an influx of naturists/nudists.
This would also be a good thing in normalising nudity. The interaction between naturists/nudists and the owners and customers in pubs, shops, hotels, B&B’s, restaurants etc., would go a long way to making those people realise that we’re normal people, and naturism/nudism isn’t weird, perverted or any of the preconceptions some people have. And it might just encourage people to try it for themselves.
I’ve never been a fan of putting it behind closed doors, or gates or whatever. It needs to be a normal thing to do, and a great way to achieve that would be for ordinary businesses to benefit from it.
I’ve got to strongly disagree with “GRC” who said naturism in the UK, “is mostly practised by retired people and other oldies, rather than modern young families, and is therefore in serious decline.” THAT is absolutely not true. Go to beaches like Morfa Dyffryn in North Wales in the height of summer and you’ll see ~300 or more nude people on the beach, a mix of young, old, couples, singles, families. What is in decline, and it’s great that it is, are those very venues “GRC” is talking about. I welcome their demise. But naturism in the UK is on the up, not in demise. I think what “GRC” is seeing is the shift away from clubs. I believe, like myself, people who want to get naked want to do it at beaches and other locations where they aren’t hidden behind fences and gates, but just free to strip off at the beach. A lot of younger people as well as some of us oldies prefer that freedom.
It’s possible that the reason there aren’t venues like Cap d’Agde, La Jenny and others found in Europe, in the UK, has nothing to do with the weather, which I’ve explained elsewhere on this site, but is more likely to do with that they’re not necessary. The most distant place from the coast in the entire UK is only 70 miles/113km from the coast. Most of us are within an hour from some beach somewhere. There are “textile” holiday parks, so I’m sure a naturist holiday park would work, but, like myself for example, I am quite happy to drive down to the beach in a morning, an hour and fifteen minutes’ drive, drive home at night, and drive back in the morning. I know that’s not what most people do, especially families, but I’m sure it’s a contributing factor.
So, certainly in the UK, in my opinion, the way forward is encouraging local authorities to embrace the commercial benefits of naturism/nudism on local businesses.
Developing naturism/nudism specific businesses that remain behind fences is a negative thing.
You have some interesting views and conclusions, but I think you make the mistake of gauging the current situation regarding naturism (especially in the UK) according to the popularity of nude beaches, which I hardly consider to be naturism at all.
In my book, so-called beach ‘naturism’ is only skinnydipping and nude sunbathing, and falls a long way short of what most experienced naturists would consider a full and proper naturist experience.
It is true that a nude beach is often the first step into the naturist world for many people, but whether or not they can be called naturists is another matter, and most of them must end up thinking “Is that it?”, and never take the next step.
I think those of us who have taken the next step and have been converted to the joys of naturism have, at one time or another, dreamt of a Utopia where we can be nude wherever and whenever we like, and able to be naked for every activity, from cleaning the car to doing the shopping.
However, we all have to accept that in ‘real life’ this isn’t going to happen, so the best we can do is join a club or book into a resort where we are able to have that kind of 24-7 naked experience. As I pointed out in a previous post, such opportunities are very limited in the UK, regardless of how many beaches might be opened up for skinnydippers.
I quickly get bored of being on a beach, particularly having experienced many kilometres of nude hiking, and spending whole days naked in resorts.
It could even be argued that nude beaches are detrimental to the idea of naturism becoming ‘normalised’ – because they further the notion that it’s OK to take your clothes off when you are near water, but not in other situations. We’ve even seen this in a UK naturist club we visited for a day, where most members, including some who were residents, only took off their clothes to swim in the pool, despite unusually warm weather. Even my wife (who isn’t a true naturist, but is happy to be married to one) thought they were completely missing the point.
I also suspect that many of the (usually female) partners of would-be naturists who are reluctant to join in also look at nude beaches and wonder if that’s all that naturism has to offer, so the problem is not so much their reluctance as their partners’ failure to sell it better.
The bottom line is: we owe a debt to all those businesses that not only provide us with the next best thing to being able to walk naked along any street, but also have the power to turn the skinnydippers into true naturists.
I find it objectionable that you categorise those of us who prefer to visit nude beaches as “not naturism at all”.
For me this has never been a “first step” it is my chosen and preferred way to enjoy getting naked out in the open air. “so-called beach ‘naturism’ is only skinnydipping and nude sunbathing, and falls a long way short of what most experienced naturists would consider a full and proper naturist experience”. That, I’m sorry, is nonsense.
I’m not new to this, I have been doing it for nearly 50 years and never had the desire join a club and do it behind fences and locked gates. Resorts like Cap d’Agde and others, I would consider going to. But preferring beaches and/other public outdoor areas, does not make me any less of a naturist or nudist than those who prefer to visit resorts or clubs.
How about this for a true naturist experience: Get up early one morning having as always slept in the nude. Don’t put any clothes on. Walk out of the house naked except for a pair of deck shoes and get in the car. Drive one-and-a-half-hours in the nude to a favourite beach venue. Park in a car park in the adjacent forest. Walk a mile-and-a-half along forest tracks in the nude to the beach. Spend all day at the beach, chilling, walking, swimming until well into the evening. Walk back along the forest tracks still in the nude to the car and drive one-and-a-half hours back home, staying nude all the way. Get out of the car and walk to the house in the nude. Stay nude for the rest of the night. I have done this many times, both alone and with a female partner.
“I also suspect that many of the (usually female) partners of would-be naturists who are reluctant to join in also look at nude beaches and wonder if that’s all that naturism has to offer, so the problem is not so much their reluctance as their partners’ failure to sell it better.” This is not something I have experienced. The only reluctant one in my life was my wife when I was married. But even she always preferred to go topless wherever we went, and only refused to take her bottoms off. All the other female partners and friends I’ve have needed very little encouragement to try out nudism/naturism at the beach, and once they tried it loved it. After they discovered they liked it, they would be the ones most likely to suggest going to the beach.
One of those female partners became so hooked on it (I’ve mentioned this elsewhere on this site) that she spent most her time at home in the nude, cleaning, cooking, gardening or just chilling out, sunbathing. She even went the trouble of speaking to all the neighbours who could see into the garden to explain to them that we were nudists and would like to be nude in the garden. Fortunately, all those neighbours were fine with it.
So, no, in my experience they haven’t wondered whether that’s all naturism has to offer. All my partners only ever expressed the desire to get naked and relax at the beach. At least two even said that was all they were interested in and definitely wouldn’t go to a club. They might have considered a resort but that’s all.
Finally, I think if anything will disappear eventually, it will be the labels “naturist” “naturism” “nudist” and “nudism”. It goes with the normalisation of nudity. When it becomes normal and acceptable for us to be nude at any beach anywhere (and I believe that is becoming more and more common) there won’t be any need for those labels.
Although I do use them, I try to avoid them as much as possible. I think of myself as someone, a regular person, who just prefers to relax and do recreational things in the nude. I don’t feel the need to call myself a nudist or naturist. And that’s the same as most of the female partners I’ve had. In fact one was once telling her best friend that we had been to a nude beach on holiday and spent every day naked, and how great it was, how much she loved it, and her friend asked her, “So, are you a naturist now?” to which she replied “No I’m not, I just like being nude!”
Interestingly, this discussion is why the USA has two large naturist federations. On one hand, there’s AANR (American Association of Nude Recreation) which aims at the naturist/nudist who prefers clubs and venues. On the other hand, there’s TNS (The Naturist Association) who focuses more on beaches and other natural areas where one can or should be able to be naked.
We don’t even have to cross the Atlantic to find an example. Paris has two main associations, ANP (Association des Naturistes de Paris) focuses on events and venues in the city, often public swimming pools that have a couple of naturist hours, etc. APNEL (Association pour la Promotion du Naturisme En Liberté) focuses on – as the name suggests – the freedom of naturists in public natural places. They organize naked hikes in forests around Paris, etc.
Personally, we don’t really like it when people make the difference between club/resort naturists and beach naturists (skinnydippers). It’s all about how you wish to experience naturism. Some prefer the freedom of being naked at non-fenced off places, others prefer the safety and comfort of private places.
As we mentioned in a previous comment, perception is everything. If naturism to you means being naked 24/7, you’re defining “naturism” completely differently than someone who believes that naturism is about relaxing naked on a beach. There’s no right or wrong here, there are several definitions of naturism, but few will tell you how long you should be naked exactly.
We’ve seen an interesting discussion lately where one person claimed to be a “true naturist” because his aim was to spend as much time as possible without clothes. Another person replied that to him, naturism is a lot about protecting the environment, so he’d rather put on extra clothes during the winter than turn up the heater…
Well said TimA, ditto.
Normal people do not create closed associations behind high fences and security cameras. The authorities have a great role in “spreading the word”
Local authorities of my town designated nude area in the relax section of the city pool (city owned). This is much more efficient way to get people used to idea of naturism and nudity “outside the bathroom”.
It is reasonably located but open for the public – everyone with a ticket may go there.
It’s run by authorities – this decision was probably scrutinized and is safe for general public, including children.
Authorities indirectly confirm: yes, the authority supports people who want to use pool facilities in the nude, it’s normal enough to exist in the mainstream.
Priceless.
Business model: political calculation. I do not believe there is much money involved.
Thank you!
This is definitely true as well. When a government (or any other authority) publicly approves naturism, people will much more quickly consider it something normal or harmless.
“When a government (or any other authority) publicly approves naturism, people will much more quickly consider it something normal or harmless.”
This has already happened nearly 20 years ago here when the UK government made a clear law that non-sexual public nudity was legal, and specifically states that a Naturist going about his/her business in public in the nude is not committing an offence.
The media in the UK have taken this on board and if they report on anything involving public nudity, they now always point out that nudity in public is not illegal. Even the police now state the same in official statements. So, gradually the public at large in the UK are becoming more aware of this and therefore becoming more acceptable of it.
As I have said in other posts, I have lots of experience of acceptance of nudity. For example, one day I was at a beach not far from home which is not officially nudist/naturist, but a few do go nude there. It’s not a busy beach. I was lying in a space between the sand dunes and I got up to go for a walk. As I stood up two girls appeared out of nowhere walking past just a few yards from me and both looked and initially gasped “Oh!” I said I was sorry, I didn’t mean to startle them and explained I hadn’t seen or heard them coming. They had stopped at this point and one said, “Oh it’s Ok, we know it’s allowed, we just hadn’t expected it and it was a surprised !” Then they smiled and continued walking past. That’s quite typical in my experience.
On another occasion I wanted to take a photo of the landscape with me in the foreground using the delay on my camera. I was setting the camera up when a group of clothed people sitting close by asked, “You’re not taking a picture of us are you?” I told them I wasn’t, they weren’t in the shot. They showed no concern over me being nude and didn’t mention it, they were only concerned about being photographed. Once I assured them I wasn’t photographing them I was able to continue doing what I was doing, in the nude with them sitting only a few yards away.
These things need a lot of time, but we’ll get there one day
It’s definitely true that we shouldn’t neglect the commercial advantages that naturist venues can have on nearby businesses. Because naturists do many of the same things as other tourists, like shopping, eating out, visiting sights, etc. This could especially be interesting for places that are currently failing to attract new visitors. Naturists don’t mind (and often even prefer) if their spots are not within the popular tourist centers. So naturist places can give smaller towns and regions a chance of more income.
We’ve learned that the perception of whether naturism is increasing or decreasing and getting older or younger really depends on how you experience naturism. European naturists who travel in June or September, for example, are much more likely to believe that there are few young naturists. Just because they can’t see them. Naturist families in Europe mostly travel in July or August.
Some people also count the number of naturists based on club or federation memberships. That, of course, depends largely on the club or federation. We know clubs where the average age is 75, but we’ve visited other clubs where the average age is 30. So the perception of the demographics of the naturist really depends on what you know and see.
We’ll give you another example. According to our statistics, this website isn’t really much visited by people under 25. If we would believe that the average naturist must be interested in our writings, we could conclude that young people aren’t much interested in naturism. BUT… we also don’t have that many readers older than 65. So we could also conclude that elderly people aren’t interested in naturism either…
I agree that the perception of whether the numbers of naturists are increasing, or decreasing is partly affected by when and where you experience it.
The UK media constantly reports that naturism is growing. They claim that during the pandemic it has grown exponentially with thousands taking part in various nude activities online via video platforms such as Zoom. Many of these nubies will take the next step and eventually start going to beaches, resorts, or events.
That’s another thing that is on the increase, events. Only recently, a month ago, an outdoor swimming pool club based in a nice country park near to where I live has started to put on “Skinny Dips” with music and a BBQ, all in the nude. And they’re doing it to raise money for charity, which is getting them positive publicity locally.
According to reports, there are now 3.8 million naturists in the UK, which is nearly 6% of the population. But the number of those who are members of BN (the largest membership) is only 9,000, which is less than a quarter of a percent of the 3.8 million, and less than 0.02% of the population. I think that indicates that naturism in the UK is fairly healthy and on the up, but club memberships are not so popular and probably in demise.
On a lighter note, I’ve got to mention a conversation I had yesterday with a young woman I know. I’ve known her 15 years and at first had a relationship with her, but she lives 150 miles from me. She’s half my age but we get on very well, we are still friends and talk regularly on the phone. She’s not a naturist or nudist, but she does often lounge around at home partially naked. She likes to slip on a tee shirt but be naked from the waist down. However, that’s not what this story is about…
Just yesterday she called me while I was typing one of my comments on here. She asked what I was doing, and I told her, which led to a discussion about nudism and me telling her she should try it at the beach sometime. I was explaining to her how great it was to be nude outside in the sun and fresh air, and how amazingly nice swimming in the nude was. And here’s the funny bit: Her main concern, and it was genuine concern, about me swimming in the sea naked was this which made me laugh: “What if an animal, a big fish or something mistakes your willy for food?” lol
And on that note…
The reason why there has been so much news about naturism increasing in the UK is actually because of BN. They’ve managed to build a good media network and it’s mutually beneficial. The media loves this kind of news because nudity sells. And since naturism is a lot in the news, more people might become interested in a BN membership. It’s a win-win…
I’m not so sure about that. I know they have done a lot to promote naturism and help to change the laws, but as I’ve stated in my earlier post, their membership is less than 0.25% of the 3.8 million naturists in the UK.
There are several “official” nude beaches in the UK. I have been to four of them and in the peak of summer they are very busy. The one I’ve been to most, in N. Wales, can see anywhere from 300 – 500 naturists per day at a weekend. I would care to bet that if you walked along that beach and asked each person if the were a member of BN you would only find a small number if any at all.
But there’s no doubt in my mind that “nude recreation” is substantially on the increase in the UK.
I am inclined to agree that if there is a market for a naturist holiday ground, someone will supply it and either make a living from it or supplement their other income. Scarce supply may be due to low demand.
Personally, I find it off-putting that some naturist resort providers seem to promote a hippy, alternative, or other vibe. Going there is a bit like going to religious or cult service that your are unfamiliar with and find yourself uncomfortable. Granted, others may like that and to each their own.
But places for naturism isn’t strictly a capitalist effort. There are public/govt beaches where nudity is tolerated or permitted. But of course it is first nature for bureaucrats to all be paranoid about “being sued” or other somesuch liability or controversy they fear.
I had a conversation with the manager of a resort I go to in Cuba that has a popular naturist beach (the hotel grounds are textile) and villas with large private balconies. This is one of the cheapest properties on the coast, I pointed out that in Mexico or elsewhere naturist properties are often premium priced due to scarcity. But he was convinced that the naturism held back his hotel, and they could not charge more because it had a naturist beach. He was appalled that they might advertise it make it more widely known they had a naturist beach and 2km of beachy coastline to walk naked on. He could not be convinced that promoting naturism might increase traffic. The Cuban economy is weird.
Not only do we need more naturist businesses but we need more venues for these businesses to network with one another and create capital.
For instance, too many filmmakers like myself work on projects on no budget, and the results are under-funded and mishandled. And the only nudist filmmakers that can raise money are stuck making more propaganda films, as if we don’t already have hundreds of those.
Non-landed clubs struggle to increase their membership and large nudist clubs sell out to exploiters (looking at you, Ponderosa!). Nudism did not proliferate because of the efforts of a bunch of broke-ass hippies. It became a force to be reckoned with once those hippies grew up and got a job in that business.
As the creator and owner of HauloverNudeBeach.com and having spent a lot of time and money to develop it, I can tell you that it was a big mistake and I regret having done it. Real nudist/naturist want everything for free and are not willing to spend their money on memberships. The only people willing to spend money are the swingers and the pervert. There are very few people that actually believe in non-sexual nudist values. Most people think that the nudism is the excuse and the ultimate goal is sex. This is the reason why many nudist resorts have had to go swinger in order to be profitable and even the resorts that have not gone swinger know that half of the visitors are swingers but done it in private. Most of the nudist/naturist organizations can’t generate enough members to stay viable. Examples are South Florida Free Beaches, American Association for Nude Recreation, and The Naturist Society Foundation. I wish it were different but it is a reality that I am living. Most people can’t separate sex from nudity.
We agree that there’s a lot more money to be made in the swinger and sex business than in the naturist business, but we don’t think that this is because all naturists expect to get everything for free. The uprise of expensive and exclusive naturist resorts (like there are in the Caribbean) is an example of this. Definitely not every naturist wants to camp on the cheap or only visit free nude beaches.
The main problem is bringing value. Determining what the naturist is willing to pay for other than resorts and accommodations. We get quite a lot of support on Patreon, so those people see value in what we do and want to support this financially. But the options are rather few.
Sorry Nick, but I think you are in denial. I would like to know which upscale clothing optional resorts you are speaking about in the Caribbean that only cater to naturist? I live in Miami, Florida and was born and raised here. I don’t know of any. There were a few several years ago but they are all gone. There was Sorobon Beach Resort in Bonaire which is now clothing required. There was Eden Bay Resort in DR which is closed. And there was Club Orient in St. Martin which also closed after hurricane Irma in 2017 and has never been able to find the funding to reopen. Hedonism, Desire, Hidden Beach, Couples, Grand Lido, etc. all cater to the swinger population. They are all “Adult Only” resorts for a reason.
And as far as all the support you receive on Patreon, I will bet you that they are all men that want to see Lins nude. If it was you doing this by yourself you would have already had to find a real job a long time ago. You got lucky that you found a partner that is really cute, outgoing and was willing to participate in naturism and expose herself. She is the star of the show and the reason for your success.
You’re mixing up the swingers places with the naturist places. Hedo and Desire actively cater to swingers. Hidden Beach, Couples, Intima, Paya Bay,… Don’t allow any sexual activity in the public areas. The reason why they are adult only is not that things are happening that kids should not see, but because the adults would like to have a vacation without kids around. This concept is becoming more and more popular, also in textile places.
About our Patreon, there isn’t more nudity to be seen than on any of our public channels. Of course, we get several new patrons who hoped to see more nudity and disappear after a month, but we also have numerous patrons who have been supporting us for many months. But you’re right, if this had been a one men show, the chances of success would have been much less. But we think that this is rather because the internet is already full of male naturists, so being a naturist couple is an advantage in this case.
I once found an article on a gym that allowed people to go nude on certain days of the week in the gym. I think that the best ways to incorporate naturism in daily life is for businesses to follow this model even if they are not centered around naturism.