Renting a villa in Portugal this Summer? Don't leave car hire to the last minute

Car hire companies in the Algarve claim difficult access to credit and the economic crisis have forced them to reduce their fleets, leaving the region’s tourism sector struggling to meet tourist demand during the high season for the second year running.

The lack of hire cars available to tourists renting villas in the Algarve this summer may mean increased business for taxi drivers, however, tourism experts are concerned about the sector being hit by yet another crisis.

Holidaymakers often book a hire car when purchasing a holiday package in their country, collecting it from the airport upon arrival at the destination. However, this scenario looks bleak for the months of July and August.

Armando Santana, president of ARA, Association for Rent-a-Car Companies in the Algarve, told Correio da Manhã newspaper: “Hire car companies have already told tourist operators to stop booking cars for late July and early August as there are no vehicles available for that period.

“The rent-a-car sector has been severely affected by the economic crisis and banks making access to credit extremely difficult, so fleets have had to be reduced.”

Despite not being in possession of exact figures, ARA estimates that the reduction may be a further 15 to 20 per cent over the same period last year, representing a shortage of 2,000 cars available for hire. Armando Santana added: “This leads to fewer profits for rent-a-car companies and, therefore, fewer jobs in the sector.”

source: algarveresident.com