Big changes in RVs and RV industry could be here to stay.
Camping utopia. It’s next to I-25 between Castle Rock and Monument, where tiered rows of RVs greet passing traffic in Colorado’s very own Jellystone Park™. Over 500 cabins and tent and RV sites surround not-your-dad’s-campground amenities like a waterpark, yoga lawn and on-site gem mining.
The Jellystone franchise website boasts, “Jellystone Park is the only campground chain in the United States focused solely on the family demographic.” And this focus on a market of young families vacationing without planes and hotels makes Jellystone a picture of changes felt throughout Colorado’s RV industry.
RV’s in demand
Finance manager for Pikes Peak Traveland RV Outfitters Kevin Hill describes the company’s inventory, “Normally…we’d have 120-150 trailers on site.” But right now, he says, “I have eight.”
Since early 2021, says Hill, the supplier has received a handful of RVs each week, most of which have been pre-sold, leading to a static—and tiny—number of available RVs for sale.
Last year’s COVID-19 shutdowns did result in shortages, but while supply chain disruptions have set manufacturers back by as much as a year of production, the same suppliers have almost two years of backordered RVs. That means for Pikes Peak Traveland suppliers, in just a few short months, RVs dwindled while purchase demand doubled.
Living in a Cricket
Mishea Mueller is a chiropractor who travels between practices in Buena Vista and Colorado Springs each week. Growing up in Ohio as one of seven children, Mueller has fond memories of camping throughout the US in an RV. “[It] was a much cheaper option than getting a hotel room,” she chuckles.
Mueller and her husband Jake trail run and bike avidly, so purchasing a small off-road RV last year was a natural step. Called the Cricket, their RV is so lightweight it can be pulled behind almost any four-cylinder vehicle. For Mueller, the real advantage to this small, modern RV is that with it, she says, “We’re able to get into some really remote areas.”
Mueller and her husband stay in the Cricket almost every week, a schedule that requires heavy RV maintenance: cleaning and servicing their Cricket, storing it, packing, and unpacking it with gear. But for many less-committed vacationers, a new option allows all the RV fun without the RV maintenance: rental.
Road Trips for Rent
Geared toward inexperienced campers or those who do not want to take on the responsibility of owning an RV, all customers need for rental are dates and enough knowledge of basic RV jargon to select their model. RV’s generally come equipped with kitchenware, linens, and cleaning supplies—as well as gas and propane.
There is just one problem: RV rental companies are overwhelmed. Heightened Path, a Colorado Springs RV rental company, is almost completely booked. Call them and hear a recording: “Due to overwhelming responses for RV rentals, we have gotten significantly behind in call-backs and emails. Please bear with us as we handle your request.” A message on the High Alpine Rentals website home page warns, “We are VERY busy this season with only a few employees.”
“AirBnB” RVs
But there are still more RV options. Enter Outdoorsy, an innovative company that connects private RV owners with RV renters—think Airbnb for RVs. With 1,278 RV rentals in Denver alone, Outdoorsy’s system provides a way for RV owners to make cash on the side while RV renters enjoy the camping vacation they want—again, without the maintenance.
These rental companies are meeting overwhelming need felt throughout the industry. Hill argues that the demand surge is inevitable. At a time when coronavirus concerns are encouraging vacationers to steer away from planes and hotels, “We’ve got a product that you can take the family out in the woods [in] for $300, instead of $300 a night in a hotel…It’s good, affordable family fun.”
Hill no longer owns an RV himself—he is happy to sell them at Pikes Peak Traveland. But when asked if he has heard of Jellystone Park™ in Larkspur, Hill reports, “Nothing but rave reviews that I’ve heard. Man, people love it.”
Mueller and her husband do not yet have children; their adventures center more around difficult terrain and hard-to-reach places than comfortable amenities and Yogi-Bear themed attractions. But she fits in, too. Having an RV, Mueller muses, “would be a pretty Colorado thing.”
