In autumn 2019 we were on a longer trip with our camper. With the idea to discover different regions in Switzerland and in the near abroad. Everywhere it just pleases us, we wanted to stop to spontaneously spend a night.
To our disappointment, this idea did not coincide with the real situation. In many places a forest of prohibition signs was already waiting. An overnight stay in a camper was often connected with a reservation - or with an early morning knocking noise from someone who didn't exactly approve. The former wasn't spontaneous enough for us, and the latter didn't bring a quiet night in our own four camper walls. We thought to ourselves on the return trip, "There really ought to be an app where municipalities or landowners offer their space for overnight camping that campers can conveniently and digitally access - a parking app for RVs?"
We thought one step further: why are there actually camping bans? The reason was obvious: There is a lack of responsible hosts and tourism taxes. Because while accommodation providers such as hotels, vacation apartments or campsites have clear structures and booking processes, "transient" RV tourism is still too little organized. In addition, directory apps with user-generated pitch recommendations do not exactly improve the situation from the owners' point of view.
The idea of spontaneous travel is the basic essence for many campers. With Parkn'Sleep, we are addressing exactly these campers and creating a platform where pitches can be approached spontaneously and without pre-booking. In contrast to the dozens of experience camping reservation platforms, pitches cannot be reserved with Parkn'Sleep.hosts have neither booking effort nor guest communication. They offer their pitch, indicating only the availabilities. Municipalities get for the first time the possibility to regulate the situation in the simplest way and receive a tourism fee for each camper night on municipal ground.