Hoping for an epic Aussie adventure, Sascha Unger and his wife bought a caravan with plans to travel the country with their kids. But when that plan fell through, the couple decided to rent it out instead, not realising how much demand would follow.
Little did they know it would be the start of a successful travel trend offering people the chance to camp stress-free at some of Western Australia’s most iconic travel spots while enjoying the entire outdoor experience.
The family-run business, Unplug Rentals, offers travellers the chance to camp in a caravan “without the hassle of towing, setting up, packing down and cleaning,” the dad of two told Yahoo News Australia, comparing it to a “glamping” adventure.
“We deliver, set up and pack down our rental caravans, take them back to base, clean, re-stock – ready for the next hirer. This service has become so popular over our seven years of operation”.
Based in Exmouth, a resort town on Western Australia’s North West Cape, visitors to the area often visit the state’s famous Ningaloo Reef or Cape Range National Park. Customers book their own campsite and Sashca, a team of one, tows the van to the site before setting it up.
“It’s all fitted out. So they’ve got the linen, the towels, bedding, all the cutlery and crockery, then tables, chairs, everything is in it. It’s like a little self-contained unit, but basically wherever they want to have it,” he said.
While the reef and national park are “extremely popular spots” to stay and explore, they can be “daunting” for someone who’s never camped before, or who doesn’t know the area, the 50-year-old said — so it’s a perfect solution.
The company has four caravans available for customers staying around the Exmouth area in WA. Source: Unplug Rentals
All vans are completely fitted out with linen, towels, bedding, kitchen equipment and tables and chairs. Source: Unplug Rentals
Caravan business ‘hasn’t stopped’ since 2018
Launching in 2017, the family’s service has grown in popularity in line with caravan travel which has boomed in recent years, with it now being a full-time job for Sascha. By 2020, Unplug Rentals had four caravans at their disposal and were “fully booked” for the year until the Covid pandemic put a damper on their small business plans.
But as soon as borders reopened, WA saw a surge in domestic tourists. “We just got swamped with inquiries and we basically took off from there,” he said. Since then, he said “it hasn’t stopped”.
The business allows inexperienced travellers to camp in caravan without teh hassle of setting up or towing. Source: Unplug Rentals
Surge in WA tourism as caravan travel soars
Last year, Australians took 15.3 million caravan and camping trips totalling $14.3 billion, easily exceeding pre-Covid levels. According to Tourism WA, interstate leisure visitor volume surged after the borders re-opened post-Covid, eventually peaking in March 2023.
The latest Tourism WA data shows that, compared to 2019, Aussies are taking 7 per cent more trips to Australia’s Golden Outback and 4 per cent more to Australia’s South West. The average length of intrastate trips is 4 nights, compared to 3.9 in 2019.
Business owner and dad Sascha tows the caravan set it up and returns to take it away. Source: Unplug Rentals
Caravan sales also increased following Covid with many Aussies ditching their 9-5 lives and selling their homes to travel full-time in a caravan. According to Tourism Research Australia, caravan ownership had increased by 21 per cent since 2019.
This caravan hire option allows a taste of what van life has to offer. Hire starts from $183 a night with a minimum four-night hire or five nights during school holidays. For such a remote area, this time is needed to explore the region,” Sascha said, and anything less just wouldn’t be feasible for the business.
Young people taking over retirees in caravan travel trend
At first, Sascha offered a self-tow option which allows people to pick up and drop off the van after their trip. But “it was never a big draw card for us”, so they stuck with what worked best — complete set-up hires. Although the self-tow option is still available “to someone who’s got the right equipment”.
Families and young people are make up much of the customer base. Source: Unplug Rentals
Most of his customers are those with “zero camping experience” but want to try it out,” he explained. “We also have retirees who used to camp, and they used to have a van, but they’re too old to do this now,” he said.
“Then you’ve got others who decided to sell their van because it just sits in the driveway when not being used, depreciating in value over time,” he continued. But lately, Sascha noted a surge in young people taking up camping, including teens straight out of school and also young families.
A spokesperson from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia previously told Yahoo News Australia “the younger markets are definitely surging” as more young travellers and young families take to life on the road.
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