August 12, 2022 - Picture this. It's August, you've arrived in Croatia, planning to take a casual trip to Slavonia, you'll rent a car and chill it out, no problem... The only thing is, rent a what? Cars are fully booked out in Slavonia.
The news that it is currently impossible to rent a car in Osijek sounded a bit unreal, comments Glas Slavonije. Searching the internet for car rental places, judging by the number of ads, made it all seem a little suspicious. Additionally, there are numerous intermediary sites where you can find rental cars for any date up to mid-September without a problem. GS decided to do some research and called a rent-a-car in Osijek.
“Unfortunately, we do not have any available cars for rent in Osijek. In the last two years, we have never had such a demand for our services. Summer always stands out, many tourists come, rent cars, and take it to the coast, but this year we have been booked non-stop since the beginning of June. In the meantime, gaps are created when the cars are returned which must be taken back to Osijek and are rented out again very quickly. The prices are around HRK 300 per day, and of course, the longer the vehicle is rented, the lower the price. The same happens every summer because of the season, but you could always find a vehicle to rent here, until this year”, Petar Kontić from Currs d.o.o. told GS.
Despite the ever-improving tourism results, Osijek is still somewhere on the sidelines when it comes to air traffic. Tourists come to Osijek either in organized tourist arrangements or by car, so the demand for the rent-a-car service has decreased. However, an additional problem for the car rental market is the overall market situation, as car production has stopped.
“The situation is such that there are simply no cars on the market. Due to the lack of chips, production stopped, and considering that we renewed the vehicle fleet every year, we were not able to buy new vehicles, but we stayed with the number of cars we had the previous year. Summer is the peak season for everyone who rents a car, there is more travel, and foreigners come to us to rent a car immediately after arriving at the airport. Most of the vehicles are in the places where the number of arrivals is the highest, i.e. Pula, Split and of course, Zagreb. People couldn't wait for all bans to be lifted due to the pandemic, so this year the demand for our service reached its peak. Our prices start from HRK 200 a day”, points out Manuel Šimić from Carwiz.
And Davor Šimara from Nippon confirms that this summer season is truly special, that there is great interest in car rental services, so it is almost impossible to find a free car that could be rented for a long time, but only for a day or two, between two pre-booked appointments.
In the end, of all the companies contacted in Osijek-Baranja county, available vehicles were only found in Sixt, the largest rent-a-car company in Croatia. They had three free vehicles around Osijek. They also noticed a significant increase in the use of their services this year.
At Aurelia Vinkovci rent-a-car, it was confirmed that this season was their best so far, and they have been in this business for five years. As Luka Janković, director and owner said, they have 30 vehicles at their disposal and those who need a car rental service should contact them and agree on the type of car they need, as well as the exact date or period for which they want to rent a car.
“There is always something available, but we need to know the date and what type of vehicle they want since our vehicles range from high class to luxury class. The demand has been high this summer, because, after the pandemic, people started coming not only from European countries, but also from Australia and America, so in the period from June 15 to September 15, we had many booked vehicles”, said Janković.
As for the prices, he emphasized that they have new vehicles, up to three years old, and the prices, depending on the type, range from the most affordable Volkswagen for HRK 250 to a Jeep that goes for HRK 700 per day.
“We offer a wide range of vehicles, with the highest demand in the summer season and the winter, around Christmas, when a lot of people come to Croatia for the holidays. For those flying into Osijek and Tuzla, we deliver vehicles to the airport, as well as to home addresses. Those who come from distant countries know that it is more convenient for them to take a completely safe and insured car while they are in Croatia than to drive their car more than a thousand kilometers and pay for fuel for such a long trip” emphasized Janković.
GS also asked about the issue in rent-a-car companies in other parts of Slavonia and Baranja. In the Vukovar company VU RENT d.o.o., they experienced the same problem, where they told GS that every summer is the same story, the arrival of tourists always means more rented vehicles, but this season they have had the highest interest since they have been in business, and everything started from Easter. On the other hand, the company Rent E Car from Đakovo does not have such a problem, because they prepared in time for the summer tourist season, and they also offer electric vehicles.
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