Bookings for September at rent-a-car companies in the Algarve increased by 25% in the last «three or four days», as a result of the announcement by the British Government of the inclusion of Portugal in the list of safe countries to travel.
This decision had immediate positive effects on various sectors of tourism, from air travel to accommodation, but also in the business of car rental companies, assured the Sul Informação Armando Santana, president of ARA – Association of Companies of Rent-a-Car of the Algarve.
"In these few days, since the air corridor opened, we have increased reserves by 25%, compared to what we had in our portfolio, in the English market alone", he revealed.
This leads Armando Santana to consider that «the future is a little brighter», after months in which companies in the sector went through great difficulties.
"Right now - and we really need some positivism -, businessmen are starting to have more hope, seeing reservations and some movement for September," said the president of ARA.
And, although "it is still too early to project", there is also hope that this greater demand will continue in October, considering that "we will have Formula 1 and Moto GP, which bring not only the public, but also the elements of the teams, who are hundreds or more than a thousand, who have been here a week before and, of course, rent cars».
As rent-a-car Moreover, they have a lot of experience with events at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, a circuit that «has a very large occupation by the factory teams, who come here for tests».
“This is a type of tourism that, in terms of income, is good. They are people who do not have financial difficulties, who like to have a good car, to eat in good restaurants and stay in good hotels», said Armando Santana.
In addition, there are also "British golf lovers, whose horizons are a little clearer with the opening of the air corridor".
This oxygen balloon comes at a time when there was even an increase in demand, which was particularly noted “since the second week of August”.
Although, at the moment, the English, who are the main clients of Algarve tourism, are «very few», rent-a-car companies have been working with «Germans, Dutch and two markets from which we used to not have many clients, the Spaniards and the French».
"There was a large increase in the French population, because there were people who normally would not come by plane and started to come," he said.
Companies have also “lived a bit of foreigners residing in the Algarve, which are already a few thousand”.
"To give an example, there are people with a home here, who are already regular customers and who have become our friends, who had a trip booked to the UK before the announcement of the air corridor and were going to return the vehicle," he said.
But, «as soon as Portugal was placed on the list of safe destinations in the United Kingdom, they called us – and it wasn't one or two – to say that they could stay a few more days with the car, because they no longer had to quarantine, so they were going to stay longer».
With the arrival of the last week of August, the Algarve rent-a-car representative admitted, the usual trend was for bookings to start to decrease again, something that did not happen.
Although the situation is now less dramatic and there is even some hope for the future, the companies of rent-a-car, like other companies linked to Tourism, had to face many difficulties.
"What's behind us is not encouraging, that's undeniable," admitted Armando Santana to Sul Informação.
According to a survey carried out by ARA with its members, at the beginning of August, the crisis "has hit the sector in a resounding manner, with 66% of respondents reporting a drop in turnover in the 1st semester between 65% and 85%".
As for the lay off As far as this is concerned, the adhesion was massive, with a total of 91,7% of rent-a-cars saying that they used this support. Close to 60% joined the lay off total.
On the other hand, almost all ARA member companies chose to reduce their fleet, «mostly between -15% and – 20%».
“Every year, we renew our fleet. The cars can be kept up to five years in the fleet, but normally and depending on the cars, some are replaced before that», framed Armando Santana.
“What happened this year? Cars that were already fully liquidated were sold, to face the treasury problems of some companies, because it took many months», he added.
After all, “the worst thing there is to have a fleet stopped. Because a stopped fleet ends up eating all the profitability of the one that is walking. They are insurance, Single Taxes of Circulation and a series of charges that have to be paid».
“There were some of our associates who weighed things up and decided, and rightly so, to reduce the fleet [selling the cars] and, with that extra revenue, to face some treasury problems”, concluded the president of ARA.
This means that the forecasts of entrepreneurs in the sector are not the best, with 67% of rent-a-car companies pointing to the resumption of activity to pre-Covid levels only for 2022 or later.
"Entrepreneurs continue to request the extension of measures such as the lay off simplified, which ran from April to July, exemption from TSU and suspension from IUC», added the Association of Companies of Rent-a-Car of the Algarve.
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