NEWSROOM

In 2020, car rental demand increased by 23% compared to 2019. According to data from Otorento, the Online car rental platform, rentals from airports decreased, while rentals in city centers saw a large increase.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
Google Translate Application translates the content you see on this page.***

ISTANBUL (TR) - With the covid-19 outbreak, travel habits changed. As crowded environments become dangerous and restrictions affect the demand for public transport, bus and air travel has fallen, while the demand for rental vehicles has increased. Especially in the summer period, the number of those who travel by plane and spend their holidays renting cars from airports decreased, while the number of those who rent cars from the city where they are located increased. In September, expressed as the second wave of the pandemic, demand for rental vehicles increased by 352%, while the average rental period rose to 11 days and the price of car rental rose to 122 TL per day.

The first and second wave directly affected car rental requests

January March may April February, when the covid-19 epidemic is not on the agenda, there is no significant change in monthly car rentals, March, April and may monthly rentals have increased significantly, said Otorento General Manager Şehnaz Red, " the pandemic effect has decreased in the summer period back to normal rentals, 2. with the wave, it increased again. A record-breaking month-to-month rental increase of 352% in September compared to the previous year continued in a similar way in the following months. During the whole year, the rate of increase in car rental on a monthly basis was 76% on average." said.

Airport leases down 30 %

In 2020, with the decrease in the number of passengers at the airport, car rentals at the airport have decreased by an average of 30%, Shehnaz Red said, "while the demand for car rentals in city centers has increased, the demand for rental at the airport has decreased significantly. I think that the decrease in the number of foreign tourists plays an important role in this decline. Rent from Dalaman airport, where foreign tourists are particularly interested, decreased by 74%, while a decrease of 57% was observed at Bodrum airport, 53% at Kayseri airport, where expats rent heavily, and 33% at Ankara airport. "was in the form.

Istanbul and Antalya peak in car rental

Airports and city centers are evaluated together in the data, industrial and service sectors are concentrated in cities that saw an increase in renting Sehnaz red, "looking at the provincial basis, tourists and expatriates are in high demand in cities saw a decrease. In 2020, car rentals in Muğla province decreased by 56%, Kayseri province decreased by 53%, Nevsehir province decreased by 50%. During this period, there was an increase of 30% in Istanbul, where the most car rentals were made, and 32% in Antalya, the second place.

Average car rental times increased

According to the data published by otorento, short-term and holiday car rentals have been replaced by longer-term and business car rentals. In 2019, an average of 7 days of car rental, while in 2020, the average car rental period has increased to 11 days. In 2020, the average daily car rental price, which is 94 TL, increased by 30% to 122 TL. Especially in the summer months, when there were problems in the supply of vehicles, prices reached 2 times the previous year.

Car rental habit will be permanent after pandemic

Şehnaz Red, who said that they expect a 2-fold increase in car rentals in 2021 compared to 2020, said: "Since 2012, as an authority, we provide the rental of vehicles of local 'rent a car' companies. We provide services in 36 provinces and airports covering 98% of the car rental service in Turkey. Data from our extensive network shows that from April, the demand for car rental from the airport will return to its previous course, and in 2021 there will be a significant increase in car rentals. We believe that the individual car rental habit gained during the pandemic period will also become permanent, along with factors that cannot be ignored, such as hygiene and social distance., "he said.