What market gaps camping startups can exploit

Supply chain problems and the desire for more individual tourism have meant that waiting times for mobile homes are often almost a year. The perfect opportunity for rental and sharing startups?

A pair of underpants and a toothbrush, that's about all. That's all their customers need to pack if they want to spend a few weeks camping in the wilderness. That's the promise of Bastian Gembler, who founded camping startup Vantopia with his girlfriend Larissa Peters at the end of 2018.

Gembler and Peters rent out motorhomes, which they partially build out themselves beforehand and equip all themselves. More than 100 pieces of equipment they would place in the camping vehicles, Gembler said. In addition to the standard equipment, which includes cooking pots and spices, customers can also add more unusual extras, such as a coffee set with special espresso beans or an inflatable kayak.

Camping without much preparation - and without a problem that many RV owners know all too well: Where to put the vehicle when it's not being used for a vacation? Traveling on wheels is often portrayed as spontaneous and uncomplicated, but the truth is often different: Four weeks the motorhome is used and the remaining 48 weeks of the year the neighbors are annoyed because a huge vehicle narrows the way through their street.

Camping is becoming more and more popular

A space problem that is increasing rather than decreasing: Because camping is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. According to figures from the Caravaning Industrie Verband (CIVD), more than 81,000 new motorhomes were registered in 2021 alone. Between 2018 and 2021, motorhome registrations more than doubled. The camping hype also called many start-ups to the scene, who saw a new business opportunity in the industry.

So did Vantopia - although according to founder Bastian Gembler, the idea came about more by chance than anything else. He and his friend and business partner Larissa Peters had met while working at British American Tobacco. There, they had both worked in marketing. But they had no longer seen their future in the tobacco company and had both quit in 2016.

"After that, we traveled around the world," Gembler says. First with a VW bus through Europe, then backpacking through Asia and finally to North America. "That's where the camping fever really got to us," says the founder. Unlike in Europe, the camping culture in North America is more characterized by active vacationers who not only want to drink their beer comfortably at the barbecue, but also go hiking. "We wanted to establish this camping idea in Germany as well," says Gembler.

Vantopia would now be in its third real business year. In the two years before that, they had not yet turned a profit, Gembler says. Now he hopes to be in the black. The RV rental business is capital intensive, he said; after all, they buy the vehicles new every two years and sell the used ones. Added to that, he said, are now the supply chain problems.

That's because China's harsh Corona lockdown and Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine have left vehicle manufacturers short of key materials, such as aluminum and chips. As a result, RV manufacturers are waiting for vehicle chassis. Materials such as wood and glue are also in short supply.

It is difficult to estimate how long this supply chain crisis will last. Christian Günther, Managing Director of the German Camping Industry Association (BVCD), agrees. Yet the industry is only just recovering from the effects of the Corona lockdowns. "It's true that the camping industry was sometimes called a Corona winner in the media, but to be honest: There is definitely no one in tourism who would have benefited from Corona," Günther emphasizes. For months, campsites would also have had to close; in 2020, revenues would have declined by five percent compared to 2019. In 2021, he says, it was even minus eight percent compared to the pre-crisis year.

Waiting times of up to one year

It is true that interest in individual travel on wheels increased, because booking flights and hotels had more of a gambling character during the pandemic. But anyone interested in a motor home often has to wait between nine and twelve months to have the vehicle delivered - it's not an impulse buy. And now inflation is added to the mix, tempting price-sensitive prospective buyers in particular to rethink their purchasing decisions.

Experts see this as a risk. Take Peter Greischel, for example, who is a professor of tourism management at Munich University of Applied Sciences. "The frighteningly increased inflation ensures that some prospective mobile home buyers are now putting their purchase decision on hold for the time being." Currently, he would advise entrepreneurs who rely on rental or sharing models to look into the specifics of this market even more than usual. "Many market participants are seeing saturation trends in the market," he says. While the sharing sector is an interesting area of business for several providers, he says, newscomers should be aware of the growing risks if they still want to capture market share. And recreational vehicle rental companies have to contend with high expenses - here, the business model needs to be well thought out and sophisticated, he adds.

These camping start-ups exist

In fact, there are some rental and sharing startups in Germany that have managed to conquer the market within a few years. For example, the sharing company Paulcamper or the RV rental company Freewaycamper, which recently raised 30 million euros in a financing round. Its competitor Roadsurfer, Europe's largest campervan rental company, is now venturing to expand into the USA.

And the foreign competition is not sleeping either. French sharing start-up Yescapa acquired German competitor Shareacamper at the beginning of last year. Since the beginning of this year, Dutch provider Goboony has also been looking to conquer the German market. The start-up is a kind of Airbnb for campers: motorhome owners can advertise their vehicles there and thus rent them out to travelers.

Unlike tourism management professor Greischel, Goboony co-founder Mark de Vos is convinced that the sharing trend will continue to grow. On average, a motorhome would stand idle for eleven months a year. "I noticed that myself when, full of enthusiasm, I immediately bought a motorhome after my first camper vacation." So he lent it out and that's how the idea for Goboony came about.

Many "trial campers

Currently, only one percent of motorhomes in Germany are shared, de Vos said. Lots of potential, in other words. In addition, he said, the company is not affected by supply chain problems, because motorhomes are shared via Goboony that are already on the market. Gobooby would also have benefited greatly from the pandemic, as many customers became "trial campers" - meaning they didn't want to buy the vehicle right away. Platform revenues were up 200 percent in 2020 and 2021, he said.

Also from the Netherlands is start-up Campspace, which acquired German competitor Pop-up Camps in April. Campspace relies on a very different business model: a booking platform that allows private individuals to rent space to campers. "Anyone who has a nice piece of land, a mini campsite, a tree house or a yurt is welcome to sign up as a host with Campspace," says Campspace CEO Hugo van Donselaar. His goal: Campspace is to become the largest booking platform for outdoor overnight stays in Europe.

In order to still get hold of a free place in an attractive region during this time, it is increasingly advisable to arrive at the next campsite as early as in the morning."

Peter Greischel, Professor of Tourism Management at Munich University of Applied Sciences

It's an idea that tourism management professor Greischel sees potential in. "Campsites are currently in short supply," he says. "In order to still get a free pitch in an attractive region during this time, it is increasingly advisable to arrive at the next campsite as early as in the morning."

Spontaneous, individual travel looks different. But that is precisely the need of many younger travelers, who are inspired by the "vanlife" trend on Instagram. There, countless Millennials upload pictures of their campervans, always perfectly exposed, beach and sunset included.

"Camping has received a lot of media attention in recent years, and especially during the pandemic," says BVCD Managing Director Günther. Urbanization has also increased the desire to spend more leisure time in nature, he adds.

Our target group has a high need for individualism and freedom".

Vantopia co-founder Bastian Gembler

Vantopia also particularly targets those customers who want to relax in nature. "Our target group has a high need for individualism and freedom," says Gembler. Vantopia wants to move away from the cliché of garden gnomes on a permanent pitch - and therefore open up a second business segment in the medium term: its own campsite operation.

But for now, the founding couple is looking forward to summer vacations. "There, of course, we are our own customers," says Gembler. In one of the converted motorhomes, they head to Slovenia and Albania.