New research gives insight into how innovation in Nordic motorhome tourism can take place.

Innovation within tourism may not always stem from technology. Often innovation may be a consequence of deeper understanding of the customer.

The research connected to Elle Tick's thesis give us an interesting detailed insight into the changes of Nordic customers in the motorhome rental market over time that may lead to new product, service, and market strategies.

The research is based on transaction data collected from 2017 and onwards by analysing origin, age, customer segment and length of rental.

Before the pandemic the Nordic motorhome rental market was strongly internationalised. In 2017, internationals represented ~80% of rentals, and in 2019 this figure was ~84%.

Key international origin countries include Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and France.

The customers in the rental market were heavily family-oriented at this point, the included rentals in 2019 consisting of ~65% families and ~35% couples.

Average recorded driver age was ~45-46 years.

Then came large fluctuations in travel conditions.

The total number of included rentals dropped from 2290 in 2019 to 1257 in 2020. At the same time the segment of domestic customers increased from ~16% in 2019 to ~53% in 2020.

These unexpected fluctuations showed how customer segments can become alternative sources for innovation. The new segment offered alternative demand in a disrupted and restricted international travel market. Even in 2021 domestic customers represented ~47% of all included rentals.

The international market returned strongly, with ~86% in 2022.

However, the return was not quite the same as before the pandemic:

Rental duration is also increasing. Average rental duration was ~12 days before the pandemic and approximately 12.7 days in 2021 and ~14.3 days in 2022, staying constant at around 14 days through to 2025.

The market mix is also changing with increased representation of couples, and a predicted 46% from 2025, compared to 35% from 2019.

These observations form a strong basis for continued customer journey innovation:

Presenting vehicles, how travel information is given and customer service design are a few of the areas to be explored, as increased rental duration provides opportunities for supported journey-experiences, and growing couple demand could encourage new offerings on flexible leisure travel. Customers from abroad would benefit from easily accessible journey-information and pre-trip communications.

In general, this shows that hidden innovations can be discovered within routine data and Elle Ticks thesis clearly demonstrate that this form of deeper analysis of customer journey creates a better understanding of market change.

As Nordic motorhome travel continues, research-backed innovation can increase effectiveness of business response to evolving consumer demands, and offer a service provision grounded in authentic customer patterns.

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