Cup letdown for car rentals

Johannesburg - Car rental companies have been disappointed by 2010 FIFA World Cup-related business in coastal areas and some have already started to sell car stocks in these regions, Europcar CEO Dawn Nathan-Jones told Fin24.com. 

Nathan-Jones said that visitors to the soccer tournament have not rented cars for extended trips along the coast or game reserves. 

Many foreigners have based themselves in Johannesburg, limiting their time in other host cities to match days.  

"We thought they would want to experience the beauty of Cape Town but it's not their objective," said Nathan-Jones. "We are already de-fleeting."

Europcar controls a third of the local car rental market. The company is a franchise of the European car rental giant and owned by JSE-listed transport group Imperial.

The priorities of World Cup visitors mirror similar behaviour at other sports tournaments.

Research following the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany showed that sports tourists' number one objective is to attend games. In fact, 80% of World Cup visitors would have spent the day before a game in a pub. 

Despite disappointing activity levels in coastal cities, Nathan-Jones said that turnout for the soccer tournament had been better than expected, once car rental companies had revised over-optimistic expectations. 

A great deal of business is generated from tour operators and other organisational groups.

Last year, South Africa's car rental companies had planned to beef up their fleets by anything between 30% and 40%.

Most ended up increasing fleets by only about 12%, once the numbers of expected foreign visitors were revised down earlier this year.

- Fin24.com