AGA Member Spotlight: Prairie Sky Outdoor Hospitality Advisors
Shane Burns is the Founder & Principal Advisor of Prairie Sky Outdoor Hospitality Advisors. Officially launched in spring 2026, but the firm was built from years of firsthand experience working around outdoor hospitality projects, suppliers, developers, and the regulatory challenges that often determine whether a project successfully moves forward.
Based in Topeka, Kansas, Prairie Sky Outdoor Hospitality Advisors was created to fill a growing need within the industry: helping projects gain clarity early—before significant time, money, and momentum are invested without fully understanding the path ahead. Supporting projects across the U.S., the firm approaches each opportunity with practicality, clarity, and respect for the land, the local community, and the realities of zoning, permitting, infrastructure, and approval processes that can vary dramatically from one jurisdiction to another.
How did you get started in the glamping industry?
I got started in the glamping and outdoor hospitality industry working for a unique accommodation manufacturer, where I had the opportunity to work with developers, landowners, and operators across the country. Through that experience, I saw how often strong concepts could slow down or stall because zoning, permitting, structure classification, infrastructure, or local approval questions had not been addressed early enough. That experience helped shape the idea for Prairie Sky: a focused advisory firm built to help projects understand those questions before significant capital is committed, with the ultimate goal of helping more thoughtful outdoor hospitality projects come to life.
What is unique about your approach to glamping?
We don't try to be everything to everyone in the glamping industry. Our lane is specific: early-stage regulatory clarity and development-path risk reduction for glamping, campground, RV resort, and other unique accommodation projects. Rather than focusing first on design, nightly rates, or product selection, Prairie Sky helps project teams understand whether the concept fits the land, the zoning, the approval process, the infrastructure realities, and the local regulatory environment.
What’s the most innovative thing your company has done in the last year?
Prairie Sky’s most important innovation is not a product or piece of technology, but a more focused advisory model for early-stage outdoor hospitality projects. Many projects move quickly into land acquisition, site design, supplier conversations, and capital planning before the regulatory path is clearly understood. We founded Prairie Sky to bring those questions forward earlier, helping project teams pressure-test assumptions before they become expensive problems.
How do you incorporate sustainability into your business practices?
Sustainability starts with helping projects make better decisions before land, infrastructure, and capital are overcommitted. A project that is poorly matched to its site, zoning, infrastructure, or local approval pathway can create unnecessary redesign, delay, waste, and frustration. By helping teams understand constraints earlier, Prairie Sky supports more thoughtful planning and encourages development decisions that are better aligned with the land, the community, and the realities of the site.
What’s one product, service, or idea you wish existed in the glamping industry?
I wish there were more shared language in the glamping industry to help landowners, developers, communities, and local officials understand one another more clearly. A project described as a glamping retreat, campground, outdoor hospitality resort, unique accommodation project, or short-term rental concept can create very different reactions depending on the audience. Clearer language would help reduce confusion, improve early conversations, and make it easier for thoughtful projects to be understood on their own merits.
What role do community and collaboration play in your business?
Community and collaboration are central to Prairie Sky’s work because outdoor hospitality projects rarely move forward in isolation. Landowners, developers, suppliers, engineers, attorneys, architects, local officials, investors, and operators all play different roles in shaping a project’s path. Prairie Sky’s goal is to help clients arrive at those conversations better prepared, with clearer questions, a stronger understanding of the issues, and a more realistic view of what may need to happen next.
Can you share a story of how your work has positively impacted a customer or community?
One situation that's stayed with me involved a developer who had a strong vision, a promising piece of land, and a lot of excitement around the guest experience they wanted to create. On paper, the idea had real potential, but once the regulatory questions started coming into focus, it became clear that the project needed to better understand how the local jurisdiction would interpret the plan, what approval path would apply, and whether infrastructure or site constraints could affect the concept. In that instance, floodplain considerations and infrastructure constraints meant the project needed to pivot before moving too far forward. Surfacing those issues early helped the team avoid costly delays, protected their launch timeline, and kept the project positioned to open on schedule. That experience reinforced something I've seen many times in this industry. A great concept still needs the right path.
What do you see as the next big shift in consumer expectations in the glamping industry? How are you preparing to meet or exceed these evolving expectations?
I think one big shift is already taking shape. For years, one of the most common questions around the industry was, “What is glamping?” In the early stages of its growth in the U.S., the answer was all over the board. Glamping could mean anything from a basic tent with a few upgraded comforts to a high-end boutique-style accommodation. As the market matures, I think the glamping consumer is starting to look less like a traditional camper and more like a hotel guest who wants a unique outdoor experience. Comfort still matters, but so does privacy, design, ease of arrival, thoughtful amenities, strong service, and a sense that the entire stay has been intentionally planned. The outdoor setting is still the draw, but the guest expectation is increasingly closer to hospitality than camping. That means successful projects will need to be more intentional. As more properties enter the market, the ones that stand out will be those that feel authentic to the land, well-operated, clearly differentiated, and worth both the trip and the rate.
Discuss any significant challenges within the industry and how your company is working to overcome them.
One of the biggest challenges in the glamping industry is that excitement around the guest experience can sometimes outpace the development realities behind the project. A beautiful concept may still face zoning uncertainty, conditional use requirements, infrastructure limitations, health department questions, fire access requirements, floodplain overlays, or structure classification issues. Prairie Sky addresses this by helping teams identify those questions earlier, before too much time, money, or momentum gets committed to a concept the local approval process may not support.
Describe a recent achievement or success your company has experienced. What was the impact on your business or the industry?
A recent milestone for Prairie Sky was joining the American Glamping Association as a Preferred Member. This was something I had been looking forward to as part of the company’s early growth, and some early traction after launching Prairie Sky helped make it a reality. Because our services were built specifically for the outdoor hospitality industry, joining the AGA felt like an important step toward contributing to the broader glamping community and connecting with many of the people helping shape the future of the industry.
Share a surprising insight or lesson that you’ve gained from your time in the industry. How has it shaped your approach to your work?
One of the most unexpected lessons I’ve learned is how many different meanings the word “glamping” can carry depending on who's hearing it. Guests may think of it as a unique and comfortable outdoor stay, while developers may see it as a hospitality opportunity, and local officials may be trying to fit it into existing categories like campground, lodging, RV park, temporary structure, or short-term rental.
If you could spend a week at any glamping site in the world, where would it be and why?
I would choose a site that combines strong hospitality, thoughtful design, and a deep connection to the surrounding landscape. The most interesting glamping properties are not just beautiful places to stay; they are examples of how land, experience, operations, and development planning all come together. I would want to spend time somewhere that inspires both the guest side of the industry and the practical planning side behind it.
How do you stay inspired and creative in your work? What practices, hobbies, or experiences help you maintain your creativity and passion for what you do?
By studying how outdoor hospitality projects come together, where they struggle, and how better early decisions can change outcomes. I enjoy looking at land, concepts, regulations, and business ideas through a practical lens and asking, “What needs to be understood before this goes too far?” Outside of work, I also draw inspiration from family, travel, music, and conversations with individuals building something meaningful, whether personally or professionally.
What’s your vision for the future of your company within the glamping industry? Describe your long-term goals and ambitions. How do you see your business growing or evolving in the next few years?
My vision is for Prairie Sky to become a trusted early-stage advisory resource for serious outdoor hospitality projects across the U.S. I want the firm to be known for helping landowners, developers, suppliers, investors, and project teams ask better questions before major capital is committed. Long term, I hope Prairie Sky helps normalize the idea that regulatory clarity and development-path risk reduction should be part of the earliest planning conversations in glamping and outdoor hospitality.
What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had with a client or partner?
Recently, I worked with a client who had already invested a great deal of time and money into a project and was beginning to believe it may not be possible because of permitting and regulatory issues. Once we were able to fully understand the requirements, it became clear that the project didn't need to be abandoned. It needed a strategic pivot, and it was a manageable one. That adjustment helped put the project back on track with a much clearer path forward and a better understanding of what needs to happen before launch.
If you could write a book about your journey in the glamping industry, what would the title be and why?
It would probably be titled Figuring It Out as I Go, and Enjoying Every Minute of It. Ten years ago, I’m not sure I could have even explained the glamping industry very well, let alone imagined I’d become this passionate about it, but here I am, fully invested and enjoying the ride. This industry has a way of pulling you in because it blends land, hospitality, entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and creativity in a way few industries do.
How is your company innovating within the glamping space?
I think Prairie Sky’s model is innovative because it addresses one of the harder realities of glamping development: there is very little uniformity from one site to another. A project that looks straightforward in one county may face a completely different zoning interpretation, approval path, structure classification, infrastructure requirement, or local authority process somewhere else. At the same time, many landowners and first-time developers do not have many practical resources to help them understand how their specific local authority may view the project. Prairie Sky helps fill that gap by bringing focused early-stage regulatory and development-path guidance to a space that often moves quickly from vision to design before the local path is fully understood.
Share your vision for the future of the glamping industry. Where do you see the industry headed in the next 5-10 years?
I think the future of glamping is moving toward more intentional, hospitality-driven experiences. The demand is clearly there, and I agree with the projected growth of the industry as more travelers look for memorable stays that feel different from a traditional hotel or campground. But I also think the bar is rising. Guests are going to expect properties that feel thoughtful, well-designed, comfortable, and connected to the setting around them. To me, the strongest projects will be the ones that do more than place unique accommodations on a piece of land. They will create a complete environment, where the site, structures, service, amenities, privacy, and overall guest experience all feel intentional. That’s exciting for the industry because it pushes glamping beyond novelty and into a more mature form of outdoor hospitality.
Can you share a memorable story or experience you've had in the glamping industry?
One of my most memorable experiences was my first time attending the Glamping Show Americas in Colorado. At the time, I was working for a unique accommodation manufacturer, and we had not quite streamlined our booth and unit setup yet. Our team arrived early, worked long days, and stayed until the sun went down each day of the show, including setup and teardown. There were definitely a few moments where I questioned what I had gotten myself into. But on the last evening of the show, after most of the teardown was complete, a group of suppliers, operators, and people hoping to launch glamping projects gathered around a fire. We told stories, shared advice, laughed about the week, and got to know one another beyond the booths and business cards. I'm happy to say I still consider some of those people friends today. That experience helped launch my desire to carve out my own lane in the industry.
How has being a part of the glamping industry impacted you personally?
Being part of the glamping industry has pushed me to think more creatively and more independently. It eventually gave me the confidence to step out, start Prairie Sky, and build a business around a very specific need I kept seeing in the market. Personally, it has also introduced me to some genuinely good people and reminded me how rewarding it can be to help others bring a meaningful idea closer to reality.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience in the glamping industry?
What I appreciate most about the glamping industry is how many people are drawn to it for personal reasons, not just business ones. A lot of the people I meet are trying to create something that reflects a place, a story, a lifestyle, or a dream they have carried for a long time. That makes the industry feel personal in a way that is hard to find elsewhere, and it is a big part of why I enjoy being involved in it.
Share a quote that inspires you in your work, and explain why it resonates with you.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” This quote resonates with me personally because I’ve always been drawn to people who are willing to build something, not just talk about it. I admire the dreamers, but I really respect the people who take the next step, ask the hard questions, and keep moving when the idea starts becoming real. That mindset has shaped a lot of my own path as well.
