Dusseldorf They are colourful, embody an attitude towards life and promise an adventure on four wheels: campervans. The company Roadsurfer from Munich has been renting out the vehicles for six years and has meanwhile developed into the largest campervan rental company in Europe. Now the start-up ventures into the home country of the road trip – the USA.
This is exactly where Markus Dickhardt studied a good 15 years ago. He learned to love caravanning in San Diego, California. He is one of five founders who met in Marburg.
The idea for a rental came about in 2016 during a camping trip with his current business partners. While the couple already owned a Bullis, he and his wife wanted to rent a bus. “In the end, it took us almost two months to do this,” the 38-year-old recalls. So, at a campsite near Bordeaux, the friends decide to do better. They start their own campervan rental company.
The initial 25 vans are to be expanded to a fleet of 5,000 vehicles this year. The company plans to turn over more than 100 million euros in this financial year and thus almost double the turnover of the previous year. About 750 people work for the company, many of them at the headquarters in Munich. Last year, the company collected 28.5 million euros from investors. Among them are industry giants such as Tier Mobility founder Lawrence Leuschner and the makers of Trivago and Flaschenpost.
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The demand was huge right from the start, reports Dickhardt: “We found a way of life there,” says the entrepreneur, who shares management with his wife Susanne and co-founder Christoph Niemann. According to its own statements, the company was already profitable after the first year.
First US location in Los Angeles
The figures from a GfK study on the development of the caravanning market underline Dickhardt’s assessment. According to the market research institute, more than 14 million Germans over the age of 18 can imagine going on holiday with a campervan in the coming years. That is around a quarter of all adults in Germany. About five million can imagine renting a campervan.
“Many of our customers dream of spending the night in great places such as a winery or in secluded nature,” says Dickhardt.
(Photo: imago images/Cavan Images)
“We started in what we thought was a niche, but it turned out to be a big trend,” says Dickhardt. The pandemic also accelerated the trend by around six to seven years, he estimates. Nevertheless, he does not see roadsurfers as a short-term winner of Corona. Because almost all campsites in Europe were closed, large sales collapsed during this time.
“We invested a great deal in our infrastructure, which we were then unable to use for months,” says Dickhardt. Having survived the crisis, Roadsurfer is now sticking to its course of expansion. Customers can now rent the buses in twelve European countries. Now Roadsurfer wants to be one of the first European providers to offer rentals in the USA as well.
The country with countless national parks is traditionally extremely popular with adventurers and campers. In June, the company will open its first location in Los Angeles, planning up to 50 vehicles.
First of all, they want to rent out campervans to European tourists, and later to Americans as well. A few more locations are to be added. “If it’s USA, then right,” emphasizes Dickhardt.
In the USA, too, the company wants to stick to its strategy of offering campers that are as small as possible. These include various models of the VW California, the Mercedes Marco Polo and the Ford Transit. The cheapest buses can be rented for 65 euros, the more expensive models for up to 200 euros per night. Roadsurfer still wants to buy smaller mobile homes.
Campervan customers are mostly wealthy
The start-up has not yet had large, classic mobile homes in its fleet. Providers such as Rent easy, which belongs to the caravan builder Hymer Group, and the brokerage platform CamperDays are leaders here. With Pincamp, for example, the ADAC also offers a platform for pitches and camping opportunities. The start-up Paul Camper from Berlin arranges campers, vans and caravans for rent by private individuals.
All Roadsurfer campers are painted in bright colors such as turquoise, orange or red. There is also the wave-like company logo on the vehicle doors. On Instagram there are countless photos of couples, families or high school buddies posing together in front of their borrowed buses.
Tim Ellrich rented a campervan for the first time last summer. The 32-year-old took his first family vacation with his girlfriend and small child. The young family spent 15 days in Croatia in a Fiat Ducato. He deliberately decided against the classic hotel resort and in favor of a holiday in nature. The young family particularly liked the flexibility. “Today a national park, tomorrow a city trip and in the evening at the campsite – we thought the mix was great,” says Ellrich.
However, such vacations are not cheap. In addition to the average rental fee of 120 euros, there are costs for meals, camping site fees as well as fuel and toll charges. A two-week trip can quickly add up to a four-digit sum.
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A current study by the German Economic Institute for Tourism shows that caravanning holidaymakers have above-average purchasing power and are willing to spend money. The study shows that around 40 percent of people who consider caravanning as a holiday option have a net income of more than 3,000 euros. “In the end, it’s not a cheap vacation,” says Dickhardt. Nevertheless, his clientele is very heterogeneous. From young families to pensioners who take the bus to the North Sea. “We can observe the urge for reduction and freedom in all age groups.”
In addition to its core rental business, the company also makes money by selling the buses. According to their own information, Roadsurfer is the largest used car dealer in this area. Many customers like the holiday with the vans so much that they want to buy a bus. This is possible via the Roadsurfer website, but also via portals such as Mobile.de.
Since 2021, Roadsurfer has been building another mainstay: a brokerage platform for pitches from private providers for camping fans. “Many of our customers dream of spending the night in great places such as a winery or in secluded nature,” observes Dickhardt. Instead of mass campsites, customers can book a pitch at those locations. Providers can offer their free space on the Roadsurfer website and rent it out for a fee. The Munich collect a placement fee.
A kind of Airbnb for outdoor overnight stays is to be created. Similar offers are already available from homecamper.de or on the Hinterland platform. In the future, the company also wants to set up a route planner. “With our brand, we want to build a platform for everything to do with outdoor travel,” says Dickhardt.
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