10 Facts about the Bright Future for Naturism

The other day, we picked up a naturist magazine (yes, those still exist), and while flipping through the pages, we noticed that many articles focused on the past. Not events from earlier this year, but things that happened even before we were born.

Don’t get us wrong. We are all in favour of praising the people who made a difference, who stood on the barricades and faced serious consequences to make the world more nude-friendly and to create more and better places to be naked. But we couldn’t help wondering. If those pioneers still had the same drive and energy today, would they sit around telling old stories, or would they look to the future and ask what is left to tackle?

That magazine left us with the feeling that all the good stories were behind us. That there is not much to say about naturism today. This couldn’t be more wrong, and here is why.

When Bali Au Naturel opened its doors in 2004, naturist resorts officially existed on every inhabited continent. 2004… Look at us, talking about the past. The present is even more exciting. Naturism keeps gaining a foothold in new places, and people are getting organised. Recently, we learned about MENA, an association for naturists in the Middle East and North Africa, of all places.

As naturism spreads, the profile of “the naturist” is changing too. In countries where naturism is relatively new, younger people often take the lead. A few years ago, we joined an event with Black South Africans, and we were among the oldest there.

The days when naturism was organised only through volunteer clubs are behind us. Whether commercialising naturism is good or bad is a matter of opinion, but money moves the world. More than ever, the naturist travel industry is recognised for its economic value.

Take Bali Au Naturel again. When we visited years ago, we wondered how the resort could thrive in a nude unfriendly environment. Bali is part of Indonesia, a Muslim country, and while most Balinese are Hindu, that religion is not widely associated with recreational nudity either.

The answer became clear as soon as we arrived. Half the village worked at the resort. Even if some locals thought we were crazy naked foreigners, they understood the benefits for their community. That is a small-scale example, but the same principle applies to larger European resorts that create jobs and support regional businesses.

Not long ago, if you wanted a naturist vacation, you had to enjoy camping. You needed to bring equipment and sleep in a tent or a camper. We understand that this is part of the whole connecting to nature philosophy, but it’s not hard to see that this also narrows the opportunities. If you’re not into camping, naked vacations were unlikely to become your thing.

Today, almost everything that exists in the clothed hospitality world can be enjoyed without clothes. Rentals, villas, guesthouses, boutique hotels, all-inclusive resorts, cruises. If it exists, there is a naked version somewhere. This widens the scope for people to enjoy clothes-free holidays at their own comfort level.

The Greeks and Romans already knew that no fabric feels better in water than your own skin. Then the world forgot for a few centuries. Germany reintroduced naked public bathing, followed by the Netherlands, several Nordic and Eastern European countries, and about a decade or two ago, Belgium picked up the trend as well.

Truth be told, many countries still lag behind, but we believe it is only a matter of time. Once you experience a naked wellness centre, there is no going back. It is the ultimate form of wellness. Interestingly, most visitors to these naked spas don’t consider themselves naturists. We will come back to that.

One good thing that came from the COVID period is the realisation that many jobs don’t require you to be physically at the office. Even “home office” doesn’t have to mean being at home. Modern technology lets us work with many people, through many channels, from many places.

In the past, off-season travel was mostly for retirees. Today, more digital nomads seek places like Vera Playa where they can live and work without clothes. For resorts, this is highly valuable. We expect more resorts to focus on workations as well as vacations.

If you followed our recent Croatia series on YouTube, you will have seen that many nude beaches sit next to clothed resorts or even inside them. On Costa Calma in Fuerteventura, we saw the same thing, with designated nude sunbathing zones at clothed resorts. Couples resorts in Jamaica too, are clothed, yet include a nude beach.

There is a growing group of people who like to swim or sunbathe naked, but do not want to stroll around or dine without clothes. The fact that more places cater to them suggests this is an important market segment. These guests also rarely call themselves naturists. No worries, we are getting there.

As hospitality has diversified for naturists, activities have followed. A few decades ago, club or resort facilities defined what you could do. Swimming, sunbathing, and petanque were most common. Sometimes volleyball or tennis. Then yoga, pilates, and aquagym joined the list. But now, there are many naked activities outside resorts too.

British Naturism rents non-naturist venues every year for its events, which fuels growth. You can now find naked moments at bowling alleys, water parks, museums, theatres, and dinner parties as well. We even went naked laser tagging once. Our slogan “because life is better without clothes” keeps becoming more accurate as more parts of life can be enjoyed without clothes.

Social media is often seen as an enemy of naturism. People say it makes youths more body-conscious, and that it creates fear that photos of your bare body will be shared. Our inbox tells a different story. We receive many messages from people who tried going naked because they saw our posts on Instagram, watched our videos on YouTube, or read our blogs right here.

Censorship is a real issue, and it can suggest that some body parts must stay hidden. But does that outweigh the many channels through which we can now share honest experiences? New naturist YouTube channels keep popping up, as do naturist podcasts. Even people who don’t identify as naturists share their experiences at nude beaches or in naked spas on Instagram (yes, we’ll get to that very soon).

Never before have we had so many ways to share real-life naturist experiences. People are doing exactly that, more and more.

We often say that one of the hardest parts of being naturist content creators is terminology. Are we talking about naturism or nudism? And what about clothing optional? Are clothes truly optional, or is that just a polite way to say you are expected to be naked? Over time, these terms gained a lot of weight. What once brought people together sometimes drives them apart now. If you don’t believe us, check the “naturist vs nudist” discussions on Reddit.

More and more, we meet people who drop the labels altogether, or never even used them in the first place. The people at the wellness centre do not call themselves naturists. Neither do the guests on the hotel sundeck, nor those posting a holiday shot from the nude beach on Instagram. They are simply people who enjoy being nude now and then. In a way, it seems like naturists are becoming “normal” people again.

With more people enjoying more forms of social nudity, how do we measure the naturist community? In the past, the answer was easy. Federations held the information, and many venues required a membership card. Count the members for a rough estimate.

That logic persisted well into the 21st century, and a gap became obvious. Federations reported declining membership while resorts and beaches saw growth. The numbers were lying. New independent statistics tell a different story. A survey in the UK estimates that almost seven million Brits enjoy going naked. In the Netherlands, the estimate is two million, pretty much the same as in France.

Magazines might make it seem like naturism peaked decades ago. We are certain it is bigger than ever today, and the trajectory is upward from here.