What will travel look like after the coronavirus dust settles? Last week, Outdoorsy, a peer-to-peer RV rental firm, set out to explore that very question with its first virtual live panel event, “Mapping the Road Ahead: Post-Pandemic RV Travel.”
Hosted and moderated by Outdoorsy Co-founder & CMO Jen Young, Mapping the Road Ahead brought together a “dream team” of RV travel industry experts to help RV business owners and renters alike understand what to expect once social distancing and travel guidelines are lifted in the coming months. In addition to Young, panelists included: Karen Redfern, RV Industry Association vice president of Brand Marketing & Communications overseeing Go RVing; Harvest Hosts Owner Joel Holland; Mike Jackson, founder and CEO, of Southwinds Rentals, an Outdoorsy pro-owner; and Deborah Kane, founder and CEO of GoCamp Campervan Rentals, which is also an Outdoorsy pro-owner.
The panel’s consensus on the COVID-ravaged travel industry? Things are looking up.
What follows are the highlights of what panelists had to say during the webinar:
On the current state of the RV industry:
Karen Redfern: Obviously, the vast majority of the country is under stay at home order. At this point, what Go RVing’s purpose is is really to get Americans excited about the idea of RVing and ask them to get on the road and enjoy what we have to offer. But this isn’t the time to be talking about leisure travel….We know there will be a time for us to go back to that leisure travel, but we’re pulling back on that for now.
Redfern: From the RVIA side, our government affairs team has been very active with state and federal governments ensuring that campgrounds are considered to be essential businesses for those people who are full timers. We know a lot of people don’t have a brick-and-mortar home to go back to; this is their way of life whether it’s for a few years or on a permanent basis.
Joel Holland: We have over 1400 hosts in this country and Canada, and even down in Mexico. The lack of uniformity state to state has been challenging. We get these questions from members every day, “Hey, are your hosts open?” And the answer is, “Depends on what state you’re in.”…We’re excited for clarity on when the travel restrictions are ended so we can get back to saying everyone’s open for business. Our hosts are all small businesses who are really hurting in this crisis. The positive is that there’s a lot of pent-up demand to get back on the road…I think that this is going to be a tough time for a little bit, but we’ll be back to normal way before the rest of the travel industry, honestly.
Holland: It’s this very delicate balance. We’re not encouraging leisure travel. It’s very important to flatten the curve and not let hospitals get overrun, so we’re trying to tell people to relax and stay where you are. At the same time, there are a million full time RVers who live on the road and many of them are our members. When Florida kicked out the campers, we had members who were able to make it all the way back to the West Coast by staying at Harvest Hosts locations along the way.
On changes to operations and mindsets in the face of COVID-19:
Redfern: This virus is going to make lasting changes on both our psyches and our lives for years to come. Maybe on a permanent basis to some extent. There are going to be a lot of people who have reservations about hotel cleanliness, airlines, and other forms of travel. With the RV, it becomes your own personal space. You have more control over what’s happening in that space. For rentals, germs and disinfecting will definitely be top of mind. That means adopting the highest cleanliness and disinfection programs to ensure to consumers that when they do come and pick up that vehicle, it has been cleaned.
Redfern: As humans in general, there’s nothing like tragedy or crisis to bring us all together. We’re certainly in one of those situations that’s causing everyone to become more united. Even though we’re distanced, we’re feeling more united. We’ve seen this with other situations, most recently 9/11 – there’s that resurgence of that feeling of the true United States. Everyone’s in the same situation and we feel more impassioned about Americana. We become more in tune with what our surroundings are and what great advantages we have in this country.
Deborah Kane: Pre-COVID-19, all our checkouts were in person and over paper. We would exchange the contract, sign in pen, and do an in-person walkthrough of the campervans. As we’re renting them in the near term, we’re recording videos that do the full walkthrough and orient someone to their campervan. What started as a workaround to minimize person to person contact is now something we’ll use in the future as a time-saver. We can create videos that renters can watch in advance even before they come to check out the vans. Hopefully we’ll get back to saying hello in person but the video itself is an idea that can transcend the COVID-19 crisis. Pre-COVID-19, we shied away from videos. I thought it had to be super professional and we couldn’t afford it. I’m realizing that they’re actually better when they’re homespun.
Mike Jackson: We put a COVID-19 statement out reassuring people of the cleaning steps that we go through with our campers. When they get ready to go back out there, they’re gonna want to have confidence that they’re going to get into a unit that’s super clean. It’s important to use those words and stand behind them and show them what you have done.
Jackson: People are wanting RVs and campers for temporary housing. You can even suggest that in your advertising if you advertise on Facebook or Google. There are alternatives during this time if you need a camper to be that extra housing for you. Give people ideas of what they can do with your campers.
On travel trends following COVID-19:
Holland: Before the COVID situation, some of the interesting stats I’d read from RVIA and KOA camping reports showed that a lot of RVers tend to stay pretty close to home in general. They like to go out and explore their backyard. I love that, and I don’t think anything’s changed. There’s something interesting in every single state. There’s something interesting within every 100-mile radius. There’s cool stuff all over this country. We have hosts in every state — a winery, a brewery, within a 100 mile radius anywhere in the country. That’s why I think RVing is going to do really well when this thing opens up again. We’re excited to get back on the road and that doesn’t mean we have to do a cross-country trip. We’re just excited to get out of the house. I think local travel is going to be one of the saving graces for RVing.
Redfern: The plus side is that families are spending more time together, they’re having dinner together, without those crazy schedules. It’s going to carry over and they’re going to be looking to do family travel together. When we get back to work, vacation time will be limited. Having those trips that you can take close to home is the beauty of an RV. You can put everything in and go at a moment’s notice. Families are just going to enjoy being together and out in the outdoors and the fresh air. This kind of travel will become even more popular going forward.
On the benefits of RVing:
Redfern: The RV experience itself becomes the vacation. That’s the positive. When you open that door from the hotel room, you see the hotel hallway. But when you open the door from your RV, what’s in front of you? You get to pick.
Holland: When I talk to friends who want to try RVing, I say: Go on Outdoorsy. Rent the perfect unit for you, whether that’s a smaller Class B or one of these big boys. Then go look for some campgrounds along the way because you’re not going to want to boondock the whole time. Then sprinkle in some experiences, and that’s where Harvest Hosts comes in. Even after the borders open up again, it will be a little slow at first. But I think there will be ways to find great experiences for RVers.
On what to be doing during this time & in the future to market the industry:
Holland: As far as the RVers, we’ve been encouraging people to spend this time planning trips and route-planning. Once that green flag drops and the economy opens back up, or at least travel restrictions are ended, you’ll know where you’re gonna go. Encourage your potential customers to plan a trip and help them with itineraries so when it’s time to go, they rent their unit and jump on the road.
Redfern: As an industry, the RVIA, the RV Dealers Association, and the campgrounds are going to be working together to have an all-industry message going out to consumers. From Go RVing’s standpoint, we will be launching some new campaigns to really get to the consumers and get them thinking about RV travel. It’s going to be an all-out push once we know that the vast majority of the country is able to get back out on the road and enjoy what we all love to do. We’re going to want to create that want and interest with the American population.
