Camper Hire Business Seeing Boost in Bookings

Southampton-based campervan hire company Kamper Hire has seen a boost of 20% in bookings for its modern VW T5-based campers so far in 2009.

The company, which operates a fleet of twelve Volkswagen California and Bilbo Celex campervans, has attributes some of the increase to the weak pound – which has made booking a UK holiday cheaper for European and American visitors. At the same time, UK holidaymakers are more likely to stay in the UK for their holidays as the pound’s weakness makes going abroad more expensive.

Kamper Hire founder Mark Daysh says that “With the US dollar stronger than it has been for several years, we’re taking a lot of bookings from Americans. Many of them take big road trips all over the UK, often checking out family history and connections and meeting relatives. The US visitors tend to hire for longer periods – between two and four weeks – so the current exchange rates are great news for us. We even had one American who hired a ‘California’ for 84 days.”

Kamper Hire’s decision to use high quality VW T5s conversions only means that customers are guaranteed a comfortable, well-equipped and easy to drive campervan – and the compact size of these vehicles means that they aren’t difficult to drive for anyone only used to driving cars. Rental rates start at £60 per day and Kamper’s vans can be taken across the channel and into most European countries, although there is a surcharge for European use.

Anyone worried about the environmental consequences of their holiday plans need not worry, either. Kamper Hire has teamed up with carbon offsetting organisation Climate Care to offset the CO2 emissions from their rental vehicles.

As Daysh says, “We’re keen to do our bit to minimise the impact of our business on the environment, and with this new initiative we can make our holidays a pleasurable – and guilt-free – experience for our customers.”