On Wednesday, April 9, Car Rental Show attendees from Latin America convened for a meeting specifically designed to address the issues facing car rental in Latin America. Some 28 operators from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, St. Lucia, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Barbados and Aruba attended the meeting.

After breakfast, attendees participated in five seminars, presented in both English and Spanish. Topics ranged from the impact of technology in Latin America, how to prepare your books for investment, sales tactics and brand development and a new product showcase specific to Latin American operations.

Javier Garcia Gonzalez, business manager of Turismo Gargo, a Mexican-owned Fox Rent-A-Car affiliate, presented a seminar that shared specifics on how his company has grown rapidly in five years.

“The meeting was a success,” said Gonzalez, who also brought a team from his company. “I particularly liked the opportunity to interact with the presenters during the question and answers time. At the end, everyone had the opportunity to learn, and the subject matter experts from different countries shared their own experience and success stories.”

Eddie Crespo, strategic account manager for TSD, presented a seminar on how Latin American operators can leverage technology in their operations.

“The 2014 Latin American Meeting was truly a Pan American event,” says Crespo. “Companies of all shapes and sizes came away with a deeper understanding of the new technologies and services available today to help take their business to a new level. On a personal level, I was very proud to have been surrounded by so many dynamic entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean. It was truly a historic event.”

Martin Harris, business manager of the Hertz licensee in Argentina, commented on the Car Rental Show in general: “Personally, the Car Rental Show has been a very important event that has contacted me with leading companies and has taught me to where the business is heading.”

The Car Rental Show looks forward to hosting a second Latin American meeting at the next Car Rental Show, April 13-14, 2015 at Bally’s Las Vegas. Latin American operators are also invited to the Auto Rental Summit, Nov. 10-11, 2014 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

“We were delighted with our first Latin American meeting at the Car Rental Show,” said Chris Brown, executive editor of Auto Rental News. “We welcome collaboration on the agenda for our next meeting as we look forward to addressing the specific challenges of car rental in Latin America.”

Click here for the Spanish version of this story.