The chief executive of campervan rentals group Apollo Tourism & Leisure says backpacker customer numbers are dropping in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but he's hopeful of a pick-up in the grey nomad market.

Luke Trouchet said on Monday there was a large amount of uncertainty in the sector, and Apollo was aggressively discounting to try and stimulate demand. The company has a fleet of 5600 campervans and vehicles it rents out to customers across Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Europe.