Outdoorsy Hits Record 1 Million Trips, Launches ‘Stays’

AUSTIN, Texas – Outdoorsy, one of the leading outdoor travel marketplaces, has surpassed 1 million trips – or 7 million booked travel days – spent outdoors since the company was founded in 2015. The milestone comes on the heels of being recognized as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Innovative Companies in Travel and Hospitality’ for 2023.

“Our team takes enormous pride in these 1 million trips and the lifelong memories made through our platform — and we are working hard to provide our customers with new ways to create millions more,” said Outdoorsy’s CMO and Co-Founder Jen Young. “This milestone is also powerful proof that travelers are prioritizing time in the outdoors as 2023 looks to be a record year for us and the travel industry. It is also a fulfillment of our mission to restore our relationship with the outdoors and each other.”

An Irvine, Calif.-based family of four – Floris Gierman, his wife, Jennifer, and their daughters, Sadie and Zoey – made the 1 millionth Outdoorsy booking. To celebrate, Outdoorsy will be covering the cost of the family’s RV trip to Joshua Tree National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.

“Our daughter Sadie learned about the Grand Canyon in the fourth grade and her dad showed her some photos and videos of him running in the canyon from a past work trip – she found it fascinating, so we wanted to take a trip there to show her in person how incredible it actually is,” said Jennifer Gierman.

The Gierman’s RV trip is being hosted by Outdoorsy RV owner Marisol Hill, who started listing one RV on Outdoorsy in 2019 and has since expanded her business to eight RV listings, completed over 400 bookings, and earned more than $500K in revenue from Outdoorsy rentals alone. Outdoorsy exceeded $2b in transactions in October 2022, with the majority of that revenue going straight into the hands of its hosts. The highest-earning host has surpassed $4.8M on Outdoorsy.com.

Inspiration to Keep Exploring

To inspire the next 1 million Outdoorsy experiences, the company is announcing partnerships with Backcountry, Merrell, Solo Stove, The Dyrt, shār snacks, and Kuju Coffee to equip travelers as they hit the road and get outdoors this summer. Throughout the month of June, Outdoorsy will be giving away four chances to win $1,000 in Outdoorsy travel credits along with products worth over $2,000 from its partners. Learn more about this “1 Million Trips and Counting” campaign by visiting go.outdoorsy.com/1-million-trips-and-counting.

Opening Up Access to the Outdoors

With first-time visitors accounting for 76% of 2023 bookings on Outdoorsy.com, the company is also announcing a first of its own with the launch of Outdoorsy Stays. Stays diversifies Outdoorsy’s marketplace to include curated outdoor accommodations: cabins, A-Frames, tiny-homes, and yurts. These destinations are searchable by scenery or outdoor activity and are ready to book in California. Outdoorsy will expand this offering to Colorado and Texas in July, with nationwide Stays coming online later this year.

“As travel trends evolved post-pandemic, we saw interest in the outdoor lodging and accommodations sector continue to surge. We also recognized where these new outdoor travelers were headed,” said Outdoorsy’s CEO and Co-Founder Jeff Cavins. “People are interested in exploring alternative, comfort-first and nature-second ways of vacationing, which inspired us to launch Stays and welcome new peer-to-peer hosts to our outdoor-focused accommodations marketplace.”

Outdoorsy Trends Taking Place in 2023

This year, Outdoorsy will exceed the 40 million customers who searched for their next vacation on Outdoorsy.com in 2022. As travelers look beyond traditional ways of vacationing, RV rentals are at an all time high and the popularity of getting an RV delivered now accounts for 70% of Outdoorsy bookings. Some notable highlights from Outdoorsy’s 2023 ‘Summer Travel Trend’ report include:

• Millennials are on the move. In the past three years, both Outdoorsy guests and hosts have started to skew younger, with 43% of guests and 52% of hosts falling in the Millennial age range.

• ‘One more day’ is here to stay. As more employers cozy up to the idea of remote work, employees are getting creative with their office views and starting to plan longer road trips in 2023, with the average Outdoorsy trip length hovering around 7 days. In 2022, the average trip length was 5.8 days.

• Inflation can’t rain on a road trip. The average cost of an Outdoorsy road trip has only increased by 11% between 2021 and 2023 — or a jump of around $100 extra for a 6-day trip. The average nightly rate for a hotel room in 2023 is up 54% from 2022.

• A purr-fect trip isn’t far away. Approximately 72% of Outdoorsy guests use the “pet-friendly” search filter when searching for an RV rental.

• Delivery: it’s better than pizza. Around 70% of Outdoorsy hosts now offer RV delivery for guests — be that to the airport, a driveway, or to a campground.

On a Mission to Live Outdoorsy

The move into Stays adds to the momentum of Outdoorsy’s marketplace, which was recently acknowledged as one of the largest and fastest-growing independently operated companies on the 2023 a16z Marketplace 100 list. In the year ahead, Outdoorsy will continue transforming the outdoor hospitality space by bringing more outdoor destinations online through its ‘Outdoorsy Destination Network’.

“Today’s consumer has a strong desire to stay outdoors, with options that expand beyond the RV, and we’re incredibly excited to continue catering to their needs by expanding Outdoorsy’s product offerings and building a truly outdoor-focused marketplace,” said Outdoorsy CEO and Co-Founder Jeff Cavins.

For more information on Outdoorsy, Stays, and more company innovations coming soon, please visit Outdoorsy.com and follow along @outdoorsy on Instagram.

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/outdoorsy-hits-record-1-million-trips-launches-stays/