Rent-a-car sector in trouble

By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter

THE DRAMATIC fall-off in visitor arrivals since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States has started to take its toll on the rent-a-car industry.

Losses have already been placed at millions and climbing, and about 50 of the up to 600 people employed in the sector have been laid off, according to Jeanne Dixon, secretary of the Jamaica U-Drive Association (JUDA).

She has put earnings for smaller companies in the region of J$500,000 to J$600,000 per month when business is good. But today many are now earning nowhere close to that sum and are now faced with closure, she said.

She explained that the terrorist attacks on the United States have worsened the problems for the sector as September to Novem-ber are usually show months for those in the business. Most companies rely on a good summer to cushion them through this period but the much publicised violence in West Kingston in July had put a damper on the season.

The sector, like the wider tourism industry, is hit with a string of cancellations. "We have absolutely no bookings," Mrs. Dixon told The Gleaner on the weekend. "If we don't see bookings start to come in by the end of October for December then we are in trouble," she emphasised.

The escalating crisis forced the 24-member association into an emergency meeting Thursday to map strategies to deal with the situation. A sub-sector of the tourism industry, JUDA members said that they should be treated similarly to members of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) who are set to benefit from moratorium on loans and taxbreaks from public sector institutions.

"Whatever they get we are asking for," a JUDA member said. "We cannot be treated any differently and Government must be careful of the message it sends."

Carl Cameron, the association's treasurer and manager of Budget Car Rentals, the second largest in the country, explained that the rent-a-car industry had a normal utilisation level of between 30 and 50 per cent. The bigger companies like Budget, he said, were down an average 25 to 30 per cent hence companies were now operating at between 15 and 40 per cent of their capacity.

Like Mrs. Dixon, he was not optimistic about the immediate future, especially for smaller companies. "Based on my forward bookings I don't really see any significant upturn until after Thanksgiving (November 22)."

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