Car hire firms say business has slumped by 40 pct compared to first 5 months of 2011

Aevab President Ramon Reus said that vehicle hire business in the Balearics from January to the end of May this year was 40 percent less than it was during the same period in 2011.

Ramon's fears were echoed by Antoni Mas-Ferrer, the President of large scale vehicle hire company association “Baleval” who said: “It's been a very bad year.” Regarding the coming tourist season, Mas-Ferrer said that his members were expecting business to decline in comparison with the summer season of 2011. He also forecast that profitability will be lower in terms of each vehicle that is hired out because of the continued decline in the average rate of billing.

Mas-Ferrer said that holiday bookings are increasingly being made at the last minute which means that car hire companies have to drop their rates to tempt visitors during an ever shortening season.

He added that it is quite difficult to make a general prediction for all the Balearic Islands given that each has its own expecations and way of conducting business. Quantifying the number of vehicles available for hire in the Balearics this summer is not an easy job as whilst Aevab calculated that its association members had a total of around 40'000 vehicles available, Baleval said that it couldn't be precise because some companies belonging to its association “didn't provide figures.” Renewing outdated fleet has also become a problem said Ramon. The smaller car hire companies, he explained, affected by a biting economic crisis and downturn in customers, can't afford to renew their entire fleet each year. “I'd say about 30 percent of most of the smaller fleets are being renewed each year,” he judged. “Probably the average age of the part of the fleet that doesn't get replaced is between 6 months and one year-and-a-half.

Ramon warned visitors of being duped by on-line car hire in the Balearics. “Cheap rates frequently mean that terms and conditions of hire don't meet government standards.”