According to the RV Industry Association, the median for annual RV usage across all RV owners is 20 days (let's just call it three weeks). The average cost of even a used Class A motorhome (better known as the classic bus-sized RV) is over $90,000 according to lendingtree.com - and that's before factoring in maintenance costs, or figuring out where the RV is going to be stored when it's not being used the other 345 or so days out of the year that it's not being used. That's helped fuel platforms like Outdoorsy and RV Share, which allow owners to turn their unused RV into revenue. But then the rig has to compete with other listings, and turns what's supposed to be a fun toy into a second job.
This is all feeding into the rapid growth of RV rental businesses, which according to a report by Mordor Intelligence* is forecasted to see a Compound Annual Growth of 8% from 2021 through 2026. So in other words, why buy an RV when you can rent one?
And if Class A motorhomes are falling out of fashion due to rising fuel costs, and the fact that they can be a pretty extreme challenge to drive for first-time RV-ers, it only makes sense to rent a campervan for those 20 days out of the year, than own a massive traditional motorhome or fifth wheel camper trailer that will just be rotting away and burning a whole in the owners pocket that majority of the time that it's not being used. Even if renting was around $2000 per week (ours are $1750), at three weeks a year, that's $6000, which is less than the monthly payments, interest, maintenance, storage, and other costs would be for a purchased RV.
At Glamp Mobile, we are offering an alternative to inconsistent amateur-hosted RV's, with a high quality and consistent van that looks like it was pulled straight from a #vanlife Instagram feed. While we are building out our first location in Concord, New Hampshire, our vision is for a world wide franchise that fits alongside the giants of traditional travel like Hilton Hotels and Hertz rental cars, while offering new experiences not available currently in the traditional travel space.
Comments