Demand for car rentals increase, New Year looks hopeful
The demand for rental cars has drastically increased during the long festive season. As families plan their New Year activities, Fiji Rental Car Association is expecting rental cars to be booked out.
Association vice- president Shalit Kumar said it was good to see business pick up for rental car operators.
“The upcoming new year is about hope and great anticipation for better days ahead for Fiji and its special because we have opened our international borders and thousands of people have returned to work. Tourists, families, former citizens are arriving in numbers and this is after so many months,” he said.
Car rental business has also picked up in the Western Division as association members who were most drastically impacted are experiencing a demand for rental cars.
Mr Kumar said during the pandemic, there was hardly any business for so most operators.
He said looking back, the little business that came from local customers was only enough to sustain operational costs.
“Business slowly picked up since the opening of the local borders, but a major impact in the upwardof the business, resulted from the re-opening of the international borders and the re-opening of our
hotels,” he said.
He encourages the public to continue COVID safety protocols during celebrations as Fiji is still in the pandemic period.
“We wish to advice everyone to maintain the COVID safe protocols at all times and to spend responsibly given that we are not completely out of the woods yet.
“We wish to remind all drivers to obey the road rules and reserve special mention to rental car hirers that rental cars are not racing cars. Every driver has responsibility over their passengers and other road users,” Mr Kumar said.
Fiji Rental Car Association wishes its members and the public a Happy New Year.