Paradox of car rental market for spring travel

On the morning of February 6, although it was the opening day of the Con Son-Kiep Bac spring festival, the area for contracted vehicles at the parking lot at the Con Son pagoda relic site was still very empty. Visitors to the festival mainly used private cars parked in other lots.

In the years before the pandemic, renting a car for spring travel was relatively difficult at this time, in stark contrast to the car rental market this year.

In order for the families of the company members to have a meaningful spring trip, on January 13 (December 22, Nham Dan year), Ms. Trinh Thuy Nga, Deputy Director of Hung Nam Real Estate Service Office (Hai Duong City) contacted several bus companies to inquire about prices and book a car rental. The bus companies immediately accepted, just waiting to confirm the specific time and number of passengers. “The demand for traveling at the beginning of the year is very high, so the bus companies will usually balance the number of passengers, location and time before being able to respond to car booking requests. In years without the epidemic, I called to rent a car before Tet but still had to wait for the bus company to schedule a schedule. This year, they responded immediately, which surprised me,” Ms. Nga shared.

Unlike Ms. Nga, a few days ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan in Doan Ket commune (Thanh Mien) contacted a number of tourist car rental establishments. “Because of a change in travel plans during Tet, my family has switched to spring travel at the beginning of the year. Luckily, I was still able to book a service from a car company in Hai Duong city. This is very different from previous years because renting a car during this time would usually be very difficult,” said Mr. Tuan.

Normally, January is the peak time for the car rental service market for tourism, temple visits, etc. However, contrary to the expectations of the majority of tourism transport units, the demand for car rental for spring travel in the year of the Cat 2023 has decreased significantly, and there is a clear differentiation in vehicle types according to the number of seats. According to Mr. Vu Quy Doai, Director of Phuc Hung Passenger Transport, Tourism and Trade Company Limited (Hai Tan Ward, Hai Duong City), except for the years directly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the car rental service market in early spring has never been as quiet as this year. "On this occasion in previous years, many customers called to book cars, 9 cars from 7 to 45 seats of our company had to operate at full capacity, even on weekdays. This year, large enterprises have focused on production from the beginning of the year, the number of private cars is high, so the phone rings very little," Mr. Doai shared.

5 tourist cars from 7 to 47 seats of Quang Loi Company Limited (Ngoc Chau Ward, Hai Duong City) are also in a similar situation. According to Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha, in charge of operating the car of this company, the tourist car rental service market in the early spring of Quy Mao 2023 is no longer "on fire". The demand for car rental is mainly concentrated on the last 2 days of the week, on weekdays the cars are mostly sitting idle in the parking lot.

In contrast to the situation of running at full capacity in previous years, this year the drivers of Phuc Hung Passenger Transport, Tourism and Trade Company Limited have relatively little work.

Car rental services have not only decreased compared to previous years, but also have a clear differentiation. According to a survey of some tourist transport units, 16-29 seat cars are the most chosen, accounting for about 70% of car booking demand; 45-47 seat cars account for 20%, the remaining 10% is the demand for renting cars with 9 seats or less.

“Our transportation companies all guarantee to provide services at stable prices. However, the increasing number of private vehicles is the main reason why many of our loyal customers no longer use our services. Hopefully after the 15th of the first lunar month, we will receive more calls to book services,” said Ms. Ha.

Like every year, in early spring of Quy Mao 2023, tourists renting tourist cars often go to familiar places in the province such as Con Son-Kiep Bac, Tranh temple, and some places outside the province such as Ba Vang pagoda, Yen Tu (Quang Ninh), Tam Chuc pagoda (Ha Nam), Bai Dinh-Trang An (Ninh Binh)... The farthest destination is usually Ong Hoang Muoi temple (Nghe An).

Most tourist car service providers keep car rental prices at the same level as before Tet. Going to Con Son: 9-seat car 1 million VND, 16-seat car 1.5 million VND, 29-seat car 2 million VND, 47-seat car 3.5 million VND.

Interprovincial routes such as Bai Dinh - Trang An (Ninh Binh): 7-seat car 1.5 million VND, 16-seat car 2.5 million VND, 29-seat car 3.5 million VND, 34-seat car 4 million VND, 47-seat car 6.5 million VND. Cai Bau - Ba Vang - Yen Tu route (Quang Ninh): 7-seat car 2.5 million VND, 16-seat car 3.5 million VND, 29-seat car 5.5 million VND, 34-seat car 7 million VND, 47-seat car 9 million VND. Ong Hoang Muoi Temple route (Nghe An): 7-seat car 4.5 million VND, 16-seat car 6 million VND, 29-seat car 8 million VND, 34-seat car 9 million VND, 47-seat car 13 million VND. That's the price for weekdays, and on weekends each car increases from 300,000-500,000 VND, depending on the car company.

LIBRA