After two years of pandemics marked by several confinements and waves of epidemics, the short-term car rental market is picking up again in France. While there has been a noticeable acceleration in the leisure segment, linked to the French people's desire for holidays and the return of international customers, the recovery is still taking place in the following areas at medium speed for the business segment. Indeed, business travel is far from having returned to pre-crisis levels. The business traffic figures released by the SNCF and French airports confirm this. However, there are a few nuances. " While the volume of rentals at Roissy-CDG remains down, Orly is approaching 2019 levels, driven by an upturn in domestic, leisure and business travel.says Cédric Douls, Europcar's Marketing and Sales Director.
After the Omicron wave, which halted the upturn in activity, the situation has improved steadily since January. This is despite the war in Ukraine, which has created uncertainty for some companies. " The business market some recovery since MarchThis trend is set to continue in the coming quarters, with VSEs and SMIs growing proportionately faster than large companies." says Pascale Roque, the new Managing Director of Hertz France. The same is true of challenger Enterprise, which is delighted to have already exceeded its 2019 figures, with good results recorded for city-centre branches, particularly in SNCF stations. " We have benefited from the opening of twelve new branches in the last year and from the acquisition of new corporate accounts that refer several rental companies." explains Guirec Grand-Clément, Managing Director France.
Remote meetings reduce the need to travel
Although the pandemic seems to be behind us on the Old Continent, where the latest health restrictions have been lifted, its impact will nevertheless be felt in the long term for business travellers and, by extension, for short-term rental companies. Customer behaviour has changed, or even been exacerbated, as in the case of remote working, for which the craze began before Covid. " The pandemic has changed the way employees work, with more teleworking and greater use of videoconferencing and call centres for meetings." confirms Cédric Douls. To what extent will face-to-face meetings become the norm? And what impact will teleworking agreements, signed by around 3,000 companies in 2021, have on locations? " Will 10% or 20% meetings switch to video?asks Guirec Grand-Clément. Even training courses are affected by this phenomenon" .
