Travelers Take to the Road for the Holidays

As the year winds down and many are itching to travel but in a safe and socially distant way, people have turned to traveling by car. According to a survey by AAA Travel, 80% of year-end travelers are taking to the road and as the numbers show, are choosing to rent larger vehicles to do so. 

Photo Credit: Kibbo

RVshare took the spotlight in October as it raised $100MM from private equity firms KKR and Tritium Partners. 

• The company is the largest peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace with 60,000 RV owners across the country renting out their RVs.
• Between April to May 2020, the company saw a 650% increase in bookings as people in lockdown itched to go out. 
• The company was founded in 2013 in Akron, Ohio. 

Outdoorsy, a competitor to RVshare also handles peer-to-peer RV rental. 

• The company currently has around 48,000 listings across 14 countries. 
• Bookings have also seen an increase for the company, and according to them, 88% of bookings made in May were from first-time renters.
• The company is seeing a trend that renter plans to use RVs to park outside their family homes so that they can stay close while visiting extended family over the holidays. 

Cabana, takes a different approach to RV rental with its own retrofitted hotels in a van. 

• It received $3.5MM equity funding in May 2020 to expand its version of hotel life, starting from the West Coast in Seattle where it is headquartered.  
• The retrofitted vans that Cabana rents out are equipped with bedding, a shower, toilet, and pull out kitchen space with a stovetop. 

Kibbo is a San Francisco startup that wants to reimagine van life and co-living, in perhaps a new form of glamping. 

• The company, which currently closed of its waitlist due to overwhelming demand, provides home bases around major parks such as Zion, and Big Sur and an optional fully-fitted van for a set fee. Aside from the location, it also offers facilities such as laundry, a fully stocked kitchen and pantry, and other excursion gear for shared use with the community of renters.
• The company is also set to launch urban locations in California in 2021. 

Bottom Line
Aside from rental, RV owners have also risen. According to the RV Industry Association, RV shipments rose by 30% in September and demand has surged past last years even despite the two-month lockdown where the sale was disrupted.