RV rental and outdoor travel marketplace Outdoorsy has released its 2020 Travel Trend report, recapping stats from its record year. Despite experiencing a 90 percent cancellation rate early in the year due to the pandemic, Outdoorsy’s RV bookings surged in 2020, leading to the company’s best year on record, with a more than 4,500 percent increase in bookings throughout the course of the pandemic. To date, more than 3.1 million rental days have been booked on the platform, from a community of nearly 900,000 owners and renters.
With 200,000-plus unique vehicles available to rent in 4,800-plus cities across 14 countries, Outdoorsy said it was well-poised as the preferred form of travel for consumers, offering a self-contained mode of transport that allowed travelers to safely hit the road amidst growing concerns around medical safety, while at the same time empowering RV owners to experience life-changing incomes.
“Roads really do have a way of connecting us all – and we’ve seen those connections, be that with family members or the natural world around us, become one of the top priorities for folks this year,” said Outdoorsy’s Co-Founder and CMO, Jen Young. “Those connections that happen when you break away from the traditional modes of travel – the four walls of a hotel, the cramped armrests of a plane – are why we started Outdoorsy six years ago. This year has been a wild, rewarding ride of resilience, and our team eagerly anticipates the unprecedented growth our community and these connections are bound to see in the year ahead.”
2020, a year deemed by many as the year of the RV, marked Outdoorsy’s best year on record for bookings, revenue and new owner and renter sign ups. Beyond it being a strong performance year for the company, 2020 was also filled with milestones and key initiatives for the company including the addition of a renter app to its suite of iOS and Android apps for owners and renters. Outdoorsy also kicked off a Healthcare Heroes Give Back program The company received 1,500-plus nominations and awarded 140-plus free RV vacations to healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic through the program.
With the release of its second annual travel trends report, Outdoorsy is showcasing major owner, renter and general travel industry takeaways from the company’s landmark year and predictions for the 2021 rental season.
2020 Outdoorsy Travel Trends
- A new audience is getting outdoors. Nearly 90 percent of Outdoorsy renters in 2020 were first timers.
- Spending more time on the road. The average trip length on Outdoorsy was 6.4 days, up from 6.0 days in 2019.
- July remained the most popular month for trips this year, followed by August and September.
- Western and southern states won out. California, Colorado and Texas were the most popular states for rentals, with Utah and Arizona following close behind.
- Towable trailers remain popular. Towable trailers, one of the most cost-effective vehicle types on the platform, were the most popular vehicle rented from Outdoorsy in 2020, accounting for 46 percent of bookings. Class C RVs, which are a smaller drivable vehicle suitable for families, were the next popular, accounting for 24 percent of bookings.
- More people hit the road for Memorial Day. Memorial Day was the most popular holiday for RV rentals this year, beating out the Fourth of July, which was the most popular holiday for RV travel in 2019.
- RV rentals increased in value to match their growing popularity but remain an affordable vacation option. The overall average nightly rate of an Outdoorsy rental in 2020 was $161, up from the $153 average in 2019, which directly correlates with the growing popularity of RV rental vacations.
- RV rentals were the ultimate side hustle. The highest-grossing owner with a single vehicle made nearly $42,000 this year – more than three times the average $13,000 a year that Americans made on their side hustles in 2019 (Bankrate).
- Power users can bring in the big bucks. The highest-grossing owner listing on the platform made nearly $2.4 million this year.
Most popular US metro areas for rentals in 2020
- San Diego, Calif. (Nearly double the bookings in 2020 versus 2019)
- Las Vegas, Nev.
- Phoenix, Ariz.
- Denver, Colo.
- Austin, Texas
- Portland, Ore.
- Los Angeles
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Mesa, Ariz.
- Seattle, Wash.