By Paulo Miguel Júnior

Did you know that the car rental industry is also an opportunity for travel agents that are interested in increasing their monthly income? Well, last year this represented millions of reais in commission on car rental sales.

Most of the rental companies have tried to establish partnerships with agencies. ABLA itself, an association that brings together car rental companies from every state in Brazil, has encouraged this approach.

The first step is to become aware that car rental is becoming more and more integrated with the modern way of travel; it is much smarter to pay for using a car than to spend a lot more on owning one.

The travel agent that anticipates this customer wish starts out ahead of the game. Because tourists are unaware that the travel agent can be a car rental facilitator also, most of the time they end up renting a car on their own. When offering car rental, the travel agency shows that it is concerned about adding value and that it cares about serving its customers well.

So the main tip for travel agents is to offer car rental to tourists by showing the huge range of possibilities the rented car provides and explaining that they can use the car to go out on their own whenever they want, without depending on a set timetable. This makes the trip much more interesting. Another tip is to show the cost-benefit advantage of renting: the greater the number of days the car is hired for, the more economical the daily rate is.

In short, car rental is good for tourists and good for the travel agents who offer and sell this service to their customers. Take advantage of this opportunity!

Guest Author

Paulo Miguel Júnior is the chairman of the National Council of the Brazilian Association of Car Rental Companies (ABLA)