China: Travelers Find it 'Difficult' to Rent a Car
Car rental customers are finding few model selections, restrictions on length of rental and surging prices, according to China Daily.
"I have settled the expensive flight tickets and hotel bookings,” Hai Shu told China Daily of her upcoming trip to Sanya, Hainan. “But with the holidays approaching, I'm finding it hard to rent a car in the popular coastal city.”
The article paints the car rental climate in all of China — not just in Sanya — as lacking in vehicle model selections, length of rentals and surging prices, in which Shu, for example, paid twice the amount for a rental car as she did just before the holidays.
Anonymous car rental employees quoted in the article said that their companies had tried to prepare for the holiday surge and upcoming “Spring Festival” — also known as the Chinese New Year, in which people are often traveling back to their family hometowns — but that it still wasn’t enough.
The China Passenger Car Association Deputy Secretary-General Cui Dongshu said that he expects the climb in rental car bookings in the country to continue. He said this is due to several factors, including restrictions on car licensing for passenger vehicle owners.
For the full article from China Daily, click on the URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-01/18/content_14465001.htm
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