The Germans fly to Mallorca, but a vacation on the Baltic Sea in a motorhome is still not allowed. Unfair? “I can either behave in Germany or on Mallorca, so I think both are fine – if the risk value is very low there and there is a corresponding concept,” says Markus Dickhardt, managing director of Roadsurfer, to FOCUS Online. He and his team rent out small campervans.
New since March: On their website, travelers can also book parking spaces on private properties – so-called spots. “I don’t know which form of vacation would be safer at times like this,” explains Dickhardt.
His criticism: “A concept is worked out for everything, but for the subject of travel a blanket no is simply given without meaningfully thinking about it.” The risk of infection on the playground or in the kindergarten is significantly higher than on a 100-square-meter parcel in the Bavarian Forest or the Lüneburg Heath – “incidence or not”.
Dickhardt believes that a corresponding concept should have been developed last summer or at least in the past few months. And: “I don’t understand politics, you could set it up and allow it so simply.” His understanding is therefore “now very small”.
Roadsurfer: Rent a campervan and spend your holidays on private parking spaces
Camping was actually the answer to the Corona crisis. But then the campsites also had to close. The road surfers’ idea: to offer private parking spaces – for example at the farmer’s in a meadow, at the vintner’s in a vineyard or in a castle park. Cost of the so-called spots: around 15 to 20 euros, the price is determined by the “host” (host) himself – “depending on the location and special features, he can of course ask more,” explains Dickhardt.
Currently, travelers can book over 1000 parking spaces from 130 hosts from Germany, Austria and Portugal. These include parking spaces on an ostrich farm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, an alpaca farm in the Lungwitztal or on a Naturland farm in Bavaria. Parking spaces in France and Spain are to be added from the end of March. The stated goal: “By the end of 2021 we want to offer 15,000 parking spaces for 5,000 hosts.”
“We want to convey the Bulli lifestyle”
Roadsurfer’s core business since 2016 has actually been the rental of camper vans. “We want to convey the Bulli lifestyle,” said Dickhardt. This works best with small campervans that anyone can drive. For this purpose, the Munich-based company bought a total of 25 small VW Bullis in 2017 – without investors, with bank capital. The concept worked: “We can say of ourselves that we will be profitable from day 1,” says Dickhardt. All five founders have since given up their previous jobs: “So we can make a living from it.”
The three locations in Germany have now grown to 35 in eight countries. The Roadsurfer currently have 220 permanent employees, and they want to grow to over 500 over the next five months. The fleet has also been doubled to 2,500 vehicles – in addition to the VWs, they now also include Marco Polo vans from Mercedes, Ford Nuggets and small mobile homes from Bürstner and Westphalia. This makes Roadsurfer the largest rental company and subscription provider in Europe.
Second pillar: Customers can also buy the buses used. “Many choose it after the first trip,” says Dickhardt. And: “We also launched our subscription model during the Corona period – that means we can also have campers for six months.”
The idea arose while on vacation in France
The idea came up almost five years ago, in the summer of 2016. “My wife and I weren’t big campers at all,” he explains. But they were traveling with a couple of friends who always drive their VW bus to the south of France. The two of them also wanted to rent a small campervan for this – “very difficult” at the time. There was no real platform online and hardly any availabilities in stationary locations. During their vacation, the five of them thought about it, and Dickhardt’s best friend was there too: “We said: There is a need, you have to start it up.”
No sooner said than done: “On October 22nd, 2016 we started the first official ‘Let’s put it together and make something serious out of it’ round.
Roadsurfer destination: one app for all camping questions
At the end of March 2021, the Roadsurfer received growth financing of 24 million euros. Aim? “We want to develop into a platform for the entire topic of outdoor travel – also beyond European borders.” The big goal: an app that meets all the needs of a camping trip. For example: What can I do on site? Where can I go to eat?
“We work our way around these questions and try to develop suitable products. The aim is that our customers do not have to download thousands of apps and scroll through tons of information, but that they receive a pre-filtered offer from us,” says Dickhardt.
Other providers of parking spaces in the great outdoors
City Country Bus Camping arranges quiet parking spaces on courtyards in northern Germany. Against mass tourism, the initiators want to strengthen the connection between agriculture and tourism.
Country pleasure is a travel and enjoyment guide in book form that presents beautiful pitches with culinary options every year – for example on farms, wineries and breweries. With the annual vignette for 34.90 euros, campers can stay overnight on the parking spaces free of charge for 24 hours.
Look at the country is the Austrian equivalent. For an annual membership of 35 euros, campers can also stand free of charge on selected organic farms for 24 hours.