Original summer vacation plans, like trekking through Europe, may be canceled for the warm season of 2020. But that isn’t stopping wanderlusters from hitting the road. Instead, they’re turning to a more classic version of travel: RVing. And they’re doing it in troves. Peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace RVshare just announced they hit record numbers, with a 650% rise in RV rental bookings since early April 2020.
The reasons, of course, are pretty obvious: the spread of COVID-19 has lead to long periods of isolation and social distancing practice have become the norm. That prevents people from engaging in typical travel, but leaves room for RV road trips as you can abide by those restrictions while exploring. You can travel, sleep, and eat in the same self-contained environment with limited contact with others.
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In fact, the study also revealed that the majority of respondents (93%) want to avoid crowds, which wasn’t always true. This importance increased by 70% since the pandemic started, and 84% plan to travel to only travel with immediate family.
Other interesting findings of the study revealed that travelers are keen to connect with nature and discover lesser-known locations. Preferred locations include a national park (65%) or a lake destination (47%), with new outdoor hot spots popping up like Lake Murray, Oklahoma, Garner State Park, Texas, Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama, and Arcadia Peace River Campground, Florida.
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And although many people are out of the office, the struggle of working from home has led to almost half the respondents saying they need a long break. That’s why they are planning to travel for a week to over 10 days.
“RV travel has been a trend steadily on the rise for years due to RV rentals being more accessible than ever thanks to sites like RVshare,” said Jon Gray, CEO of RVshare, in a statement. “We expect RVs to continue to gain traction as a preferred method of travel while consumers are seeking flexible options and a unique way to experience the outdoors.”
