Car hire firm warns of shortages and price hikes this summer
Trade only car hire firm Flexible Autos is warning agents that rental prices for key European destinations are likely to rise this summer due to higher than usual demand.
It said that the recent troubles in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey had led to more people booking summer holidays closer to home, leading to greater demand for hire cars in traditional hot spots such as Majorca, Menorca, Malaga and Alicante.
Flexible Autos said it had seen double digit growth in high season bookings to popular European destinations this summer.
It said its bookings for Italy were up 32%, for Spain they’re up 28%, Portugal 23% and Greece 18%.
France is also proving popular, it said, as the country will host the Euro 2016 championships this summer.
MD Sue Dixon said: "The troubles in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and other usually very popular destinations has seen travellers focusing more on European destinations closer to home.
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"We’re working hard with our partners to secure and maximise availability over the Summer months, but we are urging agents to book their customers’ car hire as early as possible in order to avoid disappointment.
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"We all know rates tend to go down in the mid/low season however with summer bookings picking up as they are we expect that they will go up again closer to pick-up and during the peak season.
"Agents should book now to ensure they get the best price for their customers."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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