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.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

This is the first year that Anticus Group from Ljubljana has appeared in the Top 101 Slovenian companies as selected by the Manager magazine. And it immediately took a position in the middle of the rankings. The reason for this is that the Sixt rent-a-car franchise holder for Slovenia and Croatia has significantly increased revenue in recent years, which they mostly attribute to a growing number of tourists in the region, reports Poslovni.hr on October 29, 2018.

Twenty branches in Croatia

Last year, revenue increased by 47% to about 71 million euro, almost twice as much as in 2015. Net profit increased by 40 percent to more than two million euro. The group whose business activities include both the short-term and long-term rental of vehicles, business leases and sale of vehicles from its fleet, has six Sixt branches in Slovenia and 20 in Croatia.

Sixt is the leading European car rental company with more than 6,000 outlets in 125 countries. The Slovenian company was initially awarded a Sixt franchise for Slovenia. In 2010, the company expanded to Croatia by purchasing the Sixth franchise company from the Croatian tourist agency Atlas.

“Croatia and Slovenia fully follow the high demands required by the German franchise,” said Klemen Pur, managing director of Anticus, which makes about 25 percent of its revenue in Slovenia and about 75 percent in Croatia. The fleet includes 7,000 vehicles at the peak of the tourist season, and about a thousand in less busy parts of the year.

Electric vehicles soon to be offered

The significant business growth of Anticus is the result of tourism development in Slovenia and Croatia. “Tourism has grown considerably in this region, and vehicle rentals and our business have consequently increased as well,” said Pur. “Business users' turnover has also increased, both for short-term and long-term rentals, as well as revenue from the sale of our vehicles,” he added.

This year, Anticus plans to realize 85 million euro in revenue and 2.4 million euro in profit. They recently opened a branch office in Ljubljana which will soon offer electric vehicles for lease.

For more on Croatia’s car industry news, click here.

Oryx rent-a-car has a fleet of over 1700 vehicles, ranging from small to medium class. Volkswagen, Seat, Škoda and Audi are ORYX’s preferred brands starting with the hip eco-friendly VW Up and luxe options such as the Audi Q7 available.

ORYX have offices throughout Croatia; in the hinterland and stretching the coastline from Istria to Dubrovnik. This makes Oryx and ideal choice for travellers as you can select a varying pick-up and drop-off locations in Croatia.

All vehicles are air-conditions and on request you can get extra frills that make your travelling more comfortable such as children car seats, roof carriers, GPS, DVD, TV, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

ORYX offer various packages that will meet your demands, such as affordable long-term rentals, leasing, cargo rentals, and chauffeur services.

ORYX Rent-a-Car

www.oryx-rent.hr

In Split there is a branch office in the airport arrivals hall and in Split town center:

Split City

Sv. Petra Staroga 1

21000 Split

Tel: +385 (0)21 318 800


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Open Monday—Friday: 08:00—15:00
and Saturday: 09:00—14:00. Sundays on Request.

Split Airport

Kaštela

Tel: +385 (0)21 895 164


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Open
Monday—Sunday 08:00—20:00

Central Reservation Office

Ljudevita Posavskog 7a, Sesvete

Tel: +385 (0)1 2900 333
Fax: +385 (0)1 2900 306
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Open Monday—Friday: 08:00—16:00

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