Roaring trade for car-hire companies

Roaring trade for car-hire companiesInflux of tourists drives revenue The festive season has brought a lot of business for car-hire companies. Car-hire companies in Windhoek are raking in the dollars due to the influx of local and international travellers needing cars during the festive season.

Some car-hire businesses Nampa spoke to expressed satisfaction with their holiday business, but a few complained of a drop in profit.

None of them were willing to disclose their profits but it is not too hard to estimate, with a sports utility vehicle costing about N$1 100 per day depending on the number of days one books a car for.

A branch manager of Avis Car Rental, Jeanne Oswald, said business during this year's festive season is better than last year.

Windhoek's Bidvest car-hire subsidiary echoed the same sentiment, saying that ever since they changed their name from Budget Car Rental in 2015, business has been going well for them.

Budget is an American franchise established in the 1950s and Bidvest is a South African group of companies.

Unfortunately, not all car-hire companies earned large profits in the holiday rush.

Windhoek Dollar Thrifty, another American franchise, said they experienced a slump in business over the past year, most likely because of fuel price increases.

Nadia de Koe, a rental agent at Dollar Thrifty, said the branch in Namibia had little control over rental prices, because their head office in South Africa decided on that.

Vehicles ranging from station wagons to bakkies are available for hire in Namibia, and more local people are hiring cars for family trips.

“People rent cars from us rather than using their own to save on maintenance costs,” said Zenia Brandt, branch manager at Bidvest Car Rental.

NAMPA