Carrentals.co.uk Reports Bumper Summer Season

Car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk is reporting a 38% year on year increase in its summer bookings, (1 June – 31st August), and a corresponding 72% increase in revenue, despite the difficult and unpredictable economic climate.

The company, which compares car hire deals from over 35 rental companies including Alamo, Budget, Holiday Autos and Sixt, says the biggest increases were seen in a number of European locations including Valencia, Cagliari, Gerona and Glasgow airports.

Gareth Robinson, Managing Director of www.carrentals.co.uksays: "Despite concerns over the tourism market at the start of the year, our strategy has seen our sales performance outstrip targets across the board. All of our target locations have delivered booking volumes significantly up on last year's figures, showing the demand that still exists in the market."

Carrentals.co.uk, a previous winner of the Travolution Awards, and nominated again this year, has continued to show major growth since it re-launched as a comparison site in 2007. It has achieved strong profit growth year-on-year in the last two years, and is on track for a record financial performance this year, which ends in Jan 2010.

Gareth adds: "I believe that our carefully-managed expansion plans, coupled with a dedicated and experienced team behind us is now showing real bottom-line benefits, and I am very encouraged by the upwards revision of our year end forecasts."

Carrentals.co.uk's top rental locations for summer 2009 include Alicante, Faro, Malaga, London, Majorca, Barcelona and Dublin.

"The site is successful because it works for both suppliers and customers," adds Gareth. "Suppliers know they are getting a fair deal because of its cost-per–acquisition (CPA) approach, meaning they only pay for an actual booking, while customers have grown to trust us for the low prices and range of rental companies we offer.

"The travel market is very competitive, meaning companies will only be successful if they offer an easy to use, effective and price sensitive service. We're proud of the results we've achieved, but we know there's still a lot more potential in the market so the coming year will be focused on building our service further and looking at new sectors where our approach can have an impact."

About Carrentals.co.uk
www.carrentals.co.uk was launched in February 2003 and has grown to become one of the UK's leading online car hire companies.

In 2007 the company re-launched its site to create the first major online price comparator in the travel industry. Using the latest technology the Carrentals.co.uk site now searches up to 35 different car hire websites, providing an impartial comparison of the best prices available in over 9,000 locations.

Car Hire Suppliers searched include Alamo, Budget, EasyCar, Ebookers, Hertz, Holiday Autos, Opodo, Sixt and Thrifty, with the Carrentals.co.uk technology quickly comparing prices and allowing customers to refine their search by car type.
The Carrentals.co.uk site also features over 5,000 pages of travel information in a mini-guide format.

In 2008 Carrentals.co.uk was voted Best Car Hire Website in the Travolution Awards. To book or for further information visit www.carrentals.co.uk

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Debbie Williams
Context
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