VacationRenter CEO Heath Hammett On The Rise of RV Rentals

Short Term Rentalz speaks to Heath Hammett, CEO of vacation rental search engine VacationRenter, to explain how the company’s business model and offering is unique in the market, the latest Spring Break trends in the United States, and how the RV rental industry is becoming more professionalised alongside other traditional lodging segments.

• Please introduce yourself, VacationRenter, and the services you provide in the short-term / vacation rental industry.

My name is Heath Hammett, and I am the CEO of VacationRenter. VacationRenter is a vacation rental search engine. We bring lodging options together from a variety of top-notch partners to help prospective travellers find the perfect rental.

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• How do you envision travel returning in 2022 and beyond as we begin to emerge from the pandemic?

In one word: “fast”. A combination of vaccine availability, decreasing numbers of serious cases and general fatigue from the populace is driving greater relaxation in restrictions [reference Denmark’s recent decision to remove all restrictions] and an increase in people’s willingness to risk travel.

We’re not yet back to pre-Covid levels overall but we are on track. People want to travel. I expect RVs to remain a legitimate option to a whole new group of travellers. I expect hotels to continue recovering some of the shares it lost to vacation rentals, and I expect vacation rentals to remain strong as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a spike as people catch up on pent-up demand before settling down into the new norm. I also think new types of travel related to more flexible work arrangements, such as long-term stays, will stick with us.

• How is the RV rental industry becoming more professionalised alongside the vacation rental segment?

In 2020, after that first month and a half of refraining from public travel, people were more interested in exploring an alternative way of travelling: recreational vehicles. The notion of RVs only serving a specific type of nomad community is vanishing, as more couples, families and groups are finding the freedom and flexibility of RVs appealing. RVs are one of the safest ways to travel while still protecting yourself from Covid-19. RV searches soared over 350 per cent during the month of May when compared to April and an additional 56 per cent during the month of June when compared to May, all in 2020.

Our partners, including Outdoorsy and RVshare, have done a tremendous job of marketing the appealing lifestyle of RV travel and have sparked an appetite among audiences that may have never considered that mode of travel and accommodation before.

• What does it mean to VacationRenter to have the RV / mobile accommodation verticals represented with their own category at the 2022 Shortyz Awards?

While it’s not the largest part of our business, we are thrilled to have been able to offer this option to customers craving safer travel during the ever-evolving Covid-19 landscape, as well as those looking to try something new. It’s incredibly rewarding to see this level of recognition of the importance of the RV/mobile vertical as a serious option for travelers.

Read the full article from Short Term Rentalz here.