LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The sale of recreational vehicles skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic as people searched for ways to get away from busy cities and into the great outdoors in comfort.
One unique online platform also benefited from the rush on RVs by allowing RV owners to rent out their and yacht to people through an application called Outdoorsy.
CEO Jeff Cavins said the platform saw 19 million new customers in 2020, 89% of which were millennials, and bookings have increased by 145% over last year.
The CEO says the site allows people to search from a list of more than 24,000 unique vehicles from air streams to RVs in 11 countries and rent them for six days on average.
Cavins, who took a cross country trip before launching the site in 2015, said the experience is one well suited for a post-pandemic getaway.
"I think we live in a world of always on, always connected," Cavins said. "We live in these cities where there is high compression, and then you get out on the open road in places like Colorado and Montana and you just, everything changes."
The site was launched to replace a mostly underground network of RV rentals happening through websites like Craigslist, and every renter and owner goes through a background check before doing business on the site.
Outdoorsy has partnered with Kampgrounds of America to provide discounts at more than 500 campgrounds in the United States.
