RV Travel Increases in 2020

With many countries still keeping their borders closed, specifically to Americans, many have seen their vacations canceled over the last year. However with the reopening of states and a concern the travel industry is continuing to suffer – in fact many believe it may never recover from the disastrous effects of the coronavirus pandemic – many have turned their sights to road trips and exploring this great country of ours.

Rental platform RVshare has confirmed that they have seen an increase in bookings, specifically during the spring of this year when bookings on the site increased by 1,000%, as more and more people are taking to the road.

Speaking earlier in the year, the company’s CEO Jon Gray said, “I think we’re going to see a lot more demand. I think you’re now getting a new group of people buying them, which has people who are substituting it for more luxurious vacations than they typically took.”

And Gray was right. The demand in RV travel has increased so much within the last nine months that it is clear to see why the rental platform has chosen to raise more than $100 million from previous investor Tritium Partners and KKR.

The travel industry, not just in America but also across the world, has been severely hit throughout 2020 as fewer people have traveled. Thanks to lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and borders closing, many flights were grounded, cruise liners anchored and hotels and resorts closed. This has in turn resulted in thousands of employees, not just in these sectors but also those connected such as the hospitality and duty free sector, finding themselves not only without work but also without much money.

Therefore the investment in RVshare has come at the perfect time. RV rental increased throughout the summer with a study by Kampgrounds of America (KOA) confirming that more people were opting to take road trips. While the study found that 34% of those surveyed believed road trips would be the safest way to spend their vacations this year, a survey by the RV Industry Association discovered that 20% of those surveyed were happier to use RV travel rather than take a plane or cruise, or even stay in a tent or rented accommodation. These figures are a significant increase on 2019 surveys and have been felt throughout the industry.

Thor Industries has also seen RV bookings increase with president and CEO of the company Robert Martin saying, “We saw significant traction… with new customers who really hadn’t considered the RV lifestyle coming out.”

RVshare, which has the largest peer-to-peer RV rental market, has recently announced they reached two million days booked since they began operating in 2013. With the first million days booked taking place in the seven years between 2013 and July 2019 and the second million in the following 13 months, it is a clear indication that the surge of staycations has helped them.

Many American families are preferring to stay close to home in case of a new outbreak or new regulations and RV travel is the best way to do this. And with fall already underway the increase in bookings continues.

Year-on-year growth has seen an increase of 123% in bookings, a figure that has seen the staff at RVshare gain praise from their CEO. “I am so proud of our team for all their efforts put forth to achieve this significant milestone. Not only are we thrilled to enable travelers to experience the joys of nature and togetherness that RV travel provides, but to be a driving force in the recovery of the American travel industry.”

RV travel may have once been looked at as a ‘different’ way to holiday but thanks to social distancing being enforced across all states, many families have made the move over, making RV vacations more mainstream.

A recent survey by the platform shows that 68% of those surveyed said they had planned a vacation during the fall season, a figure which no doubt helped RVshare to gain their $100 million investment.

The investment will allow the company to utilize private equity firm KRR’s ‘network’ as well as their ‘resources’ meaning the company should be able to continue to grow amongst a booming industry.

While the RV staycation sector has seen such positivity this year the same cannot be said for the air travel sector.

International Airlines Group (IAG) – who own airlines including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling – have confirmed they will only be flying at 30% of the capacity of 2019 for the last few months of 2020.

With many countries in Europe experiencing a second surge of new coronavirus cases there have been further restrictions put in place that has hampered the expected increase in bookings, with the company announcing that “recent overall bookings have not developed as previously expected”.

This is a further blow to an already ailing industry that has seen airlines go bankrupt and thousands of employees lose their jobs.