Hoping for a legendary Aussie experience, Sascha Unger and his better half acquired a campers with strategies to take a trip the nation with their youngsters. But when that strategy failed, the pair chose to lease it out rather, not understanding just how much need would certainly adhere to.
Little did they understand it would certainly be the beginning of an effective traveling fad providing individuals the opportunity to camp trouble-free at a few of Western Australia’s most renowned traveling areas while taking pleasure in the whole exterior experience.
The family-run company, Unplug Rentals, provides tourists the opportunity to camp in a campers “without the hassle of towing, setting up, packing down and cleaning,” the daddy of 2 informed Yahoo News Australia, contrasting it to a “glamping” experience.
“We deliver, set up and pack down our rental caravans, take them back to base, clean, re-stock – ready for the next hirer. This service has become so popular over our seven years of operation”
Based in Exmouth, a hotel community on Western Australia’s North West Cape, site visitors to the location usually see the state’s renowned Ningaloo Reef orCape Range National Park Customers publication their very own campground and Sashca, a group of one, tows the van to the website prior to establishing it up.
“It’s all fitted out. So they’ve got the linen, the towels, bedding, all the cutlery and crockery, then tables, chairs, everything is in it. It’s like a little self-contained unit, but basically wherever they want to have it,” he stated.
While the coral reef and national forest are “very preferred areas” to remain and check out, they can be “daunting” for someone who’s never camped before, or who doesn’t know the area, the 50-year-old said — so it’s a perfect solution.
Caravan business ‘hasn’t stopped’ since 2018
Launching in 2017, the family’s service has grown in popularity in line with caravan travel which has boomed in recent years, with it now being a full-time job for Sascha. By 2020, Unplug Rentals had four caravans at their disposal and were “fully booked” for the year until the Covid pandemic put a damper on their small business plans.
But as soon as borders reopened, WA saw a surge in domestic tourists. “We just got swamped with inquiries and we basically took off from there,” he said. Since then, he said “it hasn’t stopped”.
Surge in WA tourism as caravan travel soars
Last year, Australians took 15.3 million caravan and camping trips totalling $14.3 billion, easily exceeding pre-Covid levels. According to Tourism WA, interstate leisure visitor volume surged after the borders re-opened post-Covid, eventually peaking in March 2023.
The latest Tourism WA data shows that, compared to 2019, Aussies are taking 7 per cent more trips to Australia’s Golden Outback and 4 per cent more to Australia’s South West. The average length of intrastate trips is 4 nights, compared to 3.9 in 2019.
Caravan sales also increased following Covid with many Aussies ditching their 9-5 lives and selling their homes to travel full-time in a caravan. According to Tourism Research Australia, caravan ownership had increased by 21 per cent since 2019.
This caravan hire option allows a taste of what van life has to offer. Hire starts from $183 a night with a minimum four-night hire or five nights during school holidays. For such a remote area, this time is needed to explore the region,” Sascha said, and anything less just wouldn’t be feasible for the business.
Young people taking over retirees in caravan travel trend
At first, Sascha offered a self-tow option which allows people to pick up and drop off the van after their trip. But “it was never a big draw card for us”, so they stuck with what worked best — complete set-up hires. Although the self-tow option is still available “to someone who’s got the right equipment”.
Most of his customers are those with “zero camping experience” however intend to attempt it out,” he explained. “We likewise have senior citizens that made use of to camp, and they made use of to have a van, however they’re as well old to do this currently,” he said.
“Then you have actually obtained others that chose to offer their van since it simply beings in the driveway when not being made use of, decreasing in worth in time,” he continued. But lately, Sascha noted a surge in young people taking up camping, including teens straight out of school and also young families.
A spokesperson from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia previously told Yahoo News Australia ” the more youthful markets are most definitely rising” as more young travellers and young families take to life on the road.
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