Stuart Nassos, managing director of Holiday Autos UK, Nordics and Ireland, recently hosted a roundtable debate with senior representatives from major car hire firms from across Europe and South Africa. Here, he outlines what they had to say:
“2010 has seen major disruption due to Iceland’s volcanic eruption, strike after strike, and the ongoing economic downturn, all of which have combined to create a tumultuous year for the travel industry.
Car hire has been particularly hard hit, so we wanted to bring together the leading car hire industry figures from countries most affected and dependent on inbound UK travellers to gain a retrospective understanding of how the industry has fared and how the lessons learned can shape our approach in 2011.
While disruptions like this are essentially acts of God and out of our hands, there is more that can be done in the future in terms of how we deal with them. It was agreed that we must keep customers fully informed as much as we possibly can. We have learnt that good communication counts for a lot in situations like these.
As we looked back on 2010 obviously each country had a different view on how this year has gone. For example, South Africa benefited from better roads following the investment in infrastructure prior to the World Cup. However, it felt the recession and decline in tourism once the football was over.
While Greece has suffered at the hands of three national strikes, it has also benefited from an improvement in road conditions, which can directly affect the future of the car hire industry in the country.
Predictions for 2011 presented joint themes, including concerns surrounding fleet supplies and funding. That said, there is a shared assurance across many of the continents that tourism will grow and leisure rental activity will increase in the year ahead.
It is essential that we take these lessons relating to crisis management and economic unpredictability with us into next year. For now, however, I certainly feel cautiously optimistic that 2011 will be a stronger year for the industry.”
