Call for government action on high car hire charges

Prices are so high now that hire car charges are the first thing tourists check ahead of accommodation and flights, according to travel experts. Picture: Larry Cummins

High car hire charges are driving tourists away from holidaying here, a politician in Killarney Co Kerry has claimed.

Cllr Niall Kelleher, the mayor of Killarney, was speaking as hoteliers and other figures in the tourism industry continue to warn charges are damaging the tourism business.

They are so high now that hire car charges are the first thing tourists check ahead of accommodation and flights, according to travel experts.

The cheapest car hire deals for all the country's airports for a week in July with no extras for a couple with two children range from €1,225 for a VW Golf with Budget to €1,372 with Avis for an Opel/Vauxhall Astra, and in the middle comes Europ Car with €1,318 for a Ford Mondeo.

Budget was the only company at the time the three websites were checked to show a different price for Ireland West (Knock) Airport in Co Mayo.

Customers planning to use Knock Airport would be charged €1,690.

Tourism Minister Catherine Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who jointly chair the Hospitality and Tourism Forum, have so far declined to say what, if anything, they intend to do about them.

The charges were mentioned briefly at the forum's meeting today but no plan to deal with them was discussed.

Mr Kelleher, who is also the recently elected mayor of Killarney, said: “We're hearing about high hire car charges quite regularly at the moment.

“It's out of control, especially when you hear about people coming from America who are being quoted astronomical money for two weeks' car hire at Dublin airport.

“It is making Killarney in particular and Ireland in general uncompetitive.

“This isn't just a problem for us in Kerry, it is a problem across the whole country and the government needs to do something, and they need to do it as a matter of urgency.”

Bernadette Randles, who owns and runs the Dromhall Hotel in Killarney, said: “Car hire is now just outrageously priced.

“As a result, a number of tourists simply won’t come to Ireland, let alone Kerry.

“They're just not going to come.

“I can't understand why prices are so high but I would imagine that the [20%] of people coming to Ireland that want car hire are definitely not coming this year because of prices.”

The 20% of tourists who usually hire a car amount to around 2.1m overseas visitors who are worth at least €200m to the tourism industry.

If even half of them are put off from coming to Ireland, that would be a sizeable chunk of revenue Ireland would miss out on because of high car hire charges.

She said that what is happening in Ireland now is unique in that people who live in Ireland and those travelling in from abroad are trying to “catch up on their missed holidays” because of the pandemic.

They will mostly have deposits already paid and this is the last year that many businesses they booked with will hold open the booking.

As a result, she thinks things will die down next year.

“I believe this is just an unprecedented year,” she said.

“And of course the fact that everything is going up is not helping anybody.”

Travel expert Eoghan Corry said: “There's no doubt that tourists are making decisions based on car hire.

“There would have been a time when planning your trip that you would check the price of the flight first and then the hotel."

“Demand is outstripping the supply,” he said.

However, he doesn't believe government intervention is an option.

“Yes, the charges are off the scale but there isn't anything the Government can do,” he said.

“These guys lost their shirt during Covid-19 [and] weren't included in a lot of the State support schemes.”