Domestic campervan hire has become all the rage in Europe, with the trend predicting that the same is set to happen in Ireland this summer.
Most of us have resigned ourselves to the fact that international holidays won't be possible for another while yet. However, with Ireland already in phase one of the Government's roadmap for reopening the country, it seems that people are already looking ahead to the future with travel experts predicting a rise in Irish road trips later this summer.
Tourism recovery has started to pick up locally in many European countries following the easing of restrictions, resulting in a shift to vacation rentals over hotels and road trips over flights. According to a Longwoods survey, 82 per cent of people travelling in 2020 have been forced to make changes to their plans as a result of Covid-19 - 11 per cent of whom opted to change their international trips to domestic trips instead.
A statistic echoed by
Indie Campers, a campervan rental company with branches in 15 countries across Europe, who has noted a huge rise in domestic bookings over the past few weeks (a whopping 217 per cent increase compared to May 2019).
Speaking of the increase, Hugo Olivera, CEO at Indie Campers said:
"Globally our domestic bookings account for more than 76% of our bookings so far in May, compared to only 24% in May 2019.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAFoFqGoSDY/
Predicting a similar pattern to emerge in Ireland
once travel restrictions are lifted later this summer, the experts foresee that domestic bookings will be geared towards healthier ways of travel and leisure (with customers leaning toward campervan hire) within the country, with Indie Campers already marking a significant increase in domestic bookings this year (43 per cent of total Irish bookings versus 5 per cent in 2019).
Hoping to alleviate travellers' anxieties with regards to moving around safely, the company have implemented a number of added measures including a new deep cleaning process, online check-in and flexible cancellation policies on all bookings up to 48 hours before check-in.
I don't know about you, but we're already dreaming of future adventures around our beautiful Emerald Isle.
Need inspiration for staying at home?
Sign up to our Lovin Home Comforts newsletter here.
