New Zealand-owned rental company Spaceships is exploring new frontiers, with an expansion into the UK market happening in the first half of 2009.

Spaceships already has 250 of its custom-designed vehicles in the New Zealand market and 100 in Australia.

Spaceships passengers will find beds for up to four people, cooking facilities, a water supply and a DVD player in their refitted Toyota “people-mover”, which company founder Neil Geddes says is easier to drive and park than a regular campervan.

Travellers can also use designated “space stations” all over the country, operated by tour operators, where they can get advice on local activities and exchange information DVDs.

The vehicles cost $100-$150 a day to rent in the high season and as little as $32 a day in winter.

Mr Geddes says Spaceships’ success is partly due to its unique product offering; big global travel wholesalers might be already locked into an arrangement with a traditional campervan company, but Spaceships can sit alongside that in a different product category.

And, he says, the “service after sale” is appreciated by travellers, who don’t want to rent a vehicle and head out into the unknown with no advice on where to go and what to do.

Sales revenue for the New Zealand business is up 42% in the financial year to date and in December, presales for January to March were up 61% on the year before.

The expansion into the UK market is aiming to attract business from New Zealanders and Australians who have seen Spaceships in their home countries, and English tourists who have used the vehicles while travelling here.

Spaceships UK will be operational by July this year.

Mr Geddes says it’s not an easy environment to operate in at present but Spaceships has always focused on being as lean and efficient as possible, with shareholder Humphry Rolleston determined to strip out cost from the operation.

About half of Spaceships’ bookings are made online.

The ‘Spaceships” themselves are bought second-hand from Japan and outfitted in a workshop owned by Mr Geddes’ parents.

Spaceships also keeps costs down by operating concurrently with a related business – the Stray network of travel buses – which means two revenue streams are derived from the same distribution channel.

Mr Geddes founded the Kiwi Experience bus network 20 years ago and sold it to current owner Tourism Holdings.

He says this taught him how hard the Australian market was, due to the size of the country and the number of “tourism gateways” - cities from where a substantial number of tourists enter and leave the country.

Spaceships has partnered with an existing operator, Adventure Tours, to take advantage of its infrastructure.

“The franchise agreement means we get the benefit of a profile in Australia but allow someone else to control and run the business,” he says.

Adventure Tours also promotes Spaceships at European trade shows.