Australia's Camplify Benefits From the 'Van Life' Trend

In the seven months since Camplify went public, two questions have hung over the business. Are there enough profits and growth in campervan rentals to make this online segment robust? Or are Camplify and its peers riding a pandemic fad?

"Since day one in 2014, we've always had more demand than supply," said founder and CEO Justin Hales of Camplify — which matches owners of recreation vehicles (RVs) with prospective renters.

Camplify has benefited from a pandemic-related trend in people dreaming of outdoor experiences and Airstream vacations. Nearly 12 million Instagram posts have been tagged "vanlife."

But the company said it has momentum beyond a pandemic bump.

"One of our typical customers is parents who want to give their families fantastic outdoor experiences but who feel that staying in a tent can be very painful when you have kids," Hales said. "For these parents, an RV they can access on-demand in their neighborhood —without having to own it — is worth a small premium to them."

One of the travel industry's underappreciated storylines is that van life is becoming a van lifestyle, as Skift CEO Rafat Ali said on a recent podcast.

When going public, Camplify, based in Newcastle, Australia, disclosed some details about its business that its private competitors haven't yet.

Its numbers help to benchmark the segment, which includes its U.S.-based counterparts Outdoorsy and RVShare; Germany's GoBoony and Pa