THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39
The Review
EUROPCAR INTRODUCES HOURLY RENTALS
EUROPCAR says it has become the first car hire company in the country to offer vehicle rentals by the hour. The new rates start from
£10 an hour, with a minimum two-hour rental period and a maximum of eight hours. The new style hourly rentals are available on weekdays only. Europcar UK’s managing director, Ken McCall, says, “Car hire can be an incredibly flexible alternative to public transport, especially with the recent fare rises that have been introduced.” He continues, “We know
that some motorists may be put off by having to commit to the cost of a full day’s car hire, which has always been the traditional way this service has been charged. We wanted to break the rules to give motorists increased flexibility and take away the barrier of cost. Now our customers can select a service to meet their specific needs and their budget.” The company claims to be Europe's leading vehicle hire company, serving some six million customers. It has a presence in 150 countries worldwide and employs over 6,600 staff.
CAR rental company Avis has unveiled a website specifically for mobile devices, allowing users to search for car hire quotes and make bookings. The new mobile site is a replica
of the regular Avis website but has been optimised for viewing on mobile devices. Anthony Ainsworth, Avis
UK's commercial director, says, “In 2011 one per cent of direct bookings for Avis came through our iPhone application. But now with the launch of additional mobile platforms we are expecting to see this figure grow to around five per cent in 2012.” Enterprise Rent-A-Car has launched a similar development for smartphone users wanting to
hire vehicles across the UK, Ireland and Germany. The company says the move
is in response to a 155 per cent increase in mobile site viewings in 2011 and a 238 per cent rise in bookings made on mobile devices. Ben Lawson, assistant vice president of rental at Enterprise, says, “Mobile is the biggest growth area in online activity and the number of customers viewing our site or booking a car or van on their smartphone has skyrocketed in recent months.” Avis has also added the MG6 to
its UK fleet, widening the choice of high-end vehicles on offer to customers. The cars are designed and engineered at MG’s Birmingham site.
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Rental duo add mobile sites
ON THE GROUND
IN BRIEF • CAPITA Business Travel has reached something of a milestone, becoming the first TMC to issue over a million train tickets in a year using the Evolvi rail platform. Eight of the UK's biggest TMCs use Evolvi, with Capita claiming inhouse enhancements to the tool and a specialist rail team have made the difference in a competitive market. Raj Sachdave, head of rail product at Capita Business Travel, says, “The milestone confirms that our rail proposition has never been stronger. We predict further growth in our rail business in the year ahead as our team continues to deliver value for customers’ necessary travel spend.”
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CABFORCE.COM made its debut at the Business Travel Show this year, announcing the news that its online taxi and private car booking service will cover over 40 cities by the year's end. It also has plans to launch a smartphone app.
• SILVERRAIL has incorporated the services of Spain's largest rail operator, Renfe, into its rail booking software. SilverRail will make Spanish rail connections available on its multi-country ticketing platform SilverCore later this year, including tickets for AVE, the growing high-speed network. It includes popular routes such as Madrid to Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Toledo and Valencia. “The addition of Renfe’s tickets moves us closer to our vision of one global rail ticketing platform that makes buying rail as easy as purchasing flights,” says Aaron Gowell, CEO and co-founder of SilverRail Technologies. The facility also covers rail travel in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, the US and Canada.
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