Motorhomes are known in North America as recreational vehicles, a term commonly abbreviated to ‘RV’, and offer holidaymakers a great option for exploring the country at their own pace.
“Canada is perfect for RVing – you can’t get a bigger outdoors than Canada,” says Kathryn Munro, Head of Sales and Marketing at CanaDream. “To enjoy Canada you really should travel around…you get a better sense of the country, the people and the landscape from an RV. Waking up to lake views, mountain vistas and surrounded by nature is truly inspirational.”
The sentiment is echoed by Tracy Thompson, International Sales and Marketing Manager at Cruise America.
“Canada is perfect for RVing, with its wide-open roads, fabulous campsites, awesome wildlife and great outdoors.
“The beauty of RV travel is the freedom and flexibility it offers. There are no rigid rules or set timetables for travelling by RV and it can be an economical way of exploring Canada, especially for larger families, as accommodation and transportation are wrapped into one package,” she adds.
Western Canada is particularly popular for RV holidays. For example, the route between Calgary and Vancouver enables travellers to experience the scenery of the Canadian Rockies in Banff and Glacier National Park in British Columbia’s interior. An RV is also ideal for experiencing the wildness and ruggedness of Vancouver Island.
Popular RV routes
“Ontario is also extremely popular, including Toronto, Niagara Falls and Algonquin Provincial Park,” adds Thompson.
One-way rentals that return an RV in a different place to the pick-up location, can incur an additional charge – however, one-way relocations offer holidaymakers opportunities to reduce that cost.
“We work with all the major tour operators that offer RV holidays in Canada, so smaller travel agents can use their preferred suppliers to access our rates and availability and to make bookings,” says Thompson.
CanaDream offers net rates on its B2B portal and its API functionality includes live bookings, training and staff fam trips.
Munro invites agents to reach out to CanaDream for assistance. “We are very much invested in our trade partners and work with key Canada specialists, as they are all very engaged in the country, have experienced teams to sell and represent our product and brand in the right way.”
Useful planning tips
When it comes to planning RV trips, Munro suggests prospective holidaymakers check out the CanaDream blog and talk to a Canada specialist tour operator about the various types of motorhomes available, their sleeping arrangements, the likely route and trip distance and inclusions for the price.
Beyond viewing sample itineraries, information and tips in the Cruise America Tourbook, Thompson offers a couple of handy tips. “If travelling between May and September we would suggest making campground reservations for the really popular national and provincial parks.
“And using the tourism websites for each province is a great place to start.”
cruiseamericaspecialist.com; canadream.com; cruiseamerica.com
