With the amount of uncertainty in when the world will safely be able to return to normal everyday life, it’s understood that certain industries may recover quicker than others. While the timeline of a recovery is hard to pinpoint, habits will likely still change in the immediate aftermath. The return of leisure travel may take longer to pick back up, with some hesitation to travel by plane, or other convenient forms of mass transportation.

Car Rental may emerge as a preferred transportation option

While extended international vacations may take longer to return, vacations may end up taking place closer to home. With the natural inclination being to visit family and friends when certain social distancing measures are lifted, car travel will likely be a more popular option. After all, traveling by car avoids the large shared environment of air travel. The car rental process already calls for cleaning vehicles after each rental, and the major players in the industry have announced extended cleaning measures they have undertaken.

Possibilities following the pandemic

With so many modes of transportation, including ride sharing set to take a hit, car rental, be it long term or short term, may grab a sizable amount of business away from other modes. With car rentals offering more options, such as subscription models or long-term rentals, it could be just what consumers will turn to until things are truly able to go back to normal.

Auto Rental News recently alluded to more possibilities that may emerge post Covid-19. While there may be some changes following the pandemic, that doesn’t mean it’s all a negative. Change could simply mean having to adjust certain ways of doing business, which the car rental industry has proven it can do time and time again. Tools now at our disposal such as e-commerce, automated fleet tracking and mobile check-in/check-out may all be tools we rely more on as we adapt.

“This timeline to get there is only conjecture at this point,” wrote Chris Brown of Auto Rental News. “Hopefully public trust can be regained quick enough to allow real change to happen, and sooner than later.”

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