FIRST, FAST AND FABULOUS

By Melissa Storey

This has been a year of great substance for First Car Rental and its approximate 450 staff and management. Celebrating its 16th year in business in April, First Car Rental has grown to become one of South Africa’s top car rental companies, methodically and consistently broadening its markets locally, and into Africa, whilst fine-tuning service delivery across the board.

In testament to this, Car Rental was again recognised as a Top 500 Best Managed Company in South Africa for the seventh year. A prestigious badge of honour in line with the three 2015 ACSA Feather Awards bestowed upon First Car Rental Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Upington airport branches.

EXPANSION

First Car Rental continued its expansion across South Africa in 2015, opening two new branches, Nelspruit and Potchefstroom, bringing the total number of branches nationwide to 51. First Car Rental Tanzania also opened four branches and started trading using the First Car Rental booking portal in February this year.

First Car Rental also expanded its innovative corporate Show&Go Mobile Checkout Facilities to George and Port Elizabeth International Airports, joining O.R. Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka International Airports, which opened in 2011. This hi-tech product is a world-first mobile checkout facility that sees corporate renters walk from airport arrivals directly to their rental car and checked out in less than a minute. Rental Agents at the Show&Go facilities use state-of-the-art iPods to perform this function, saving corporate customers immense time and effort bypassing branches, unforeseen queues and paperwork.

On a global scale, First Car Rental signed multi-year, full content distribution agreements with two of the world’s biggest global distribution system providers, Travelport and Sabre. These partnerships mean that nearly 500,000 travel agent subscribers worldwide can now gain instant, real-time access to First Car Rental’s rates and services.

INNOVATION

In 2015, First Car Rental also launched its new responsive website thus further enhancing the customer experience with its highly efficient, streamlined booking process, which seamlessly integrates across all devices from 4-inch mobile screens to 45-inch widescreen PC monitors.

To round the year off on a high, First Car Rental launched its first mobile booking app in September. The app is for iPhones and iPads and doesn’t replace any of First Car Rental’s online, telephone or in-branch booking methods, but simply makes the car booking process easier for customers on the move.

The year 2015 has been a memorable one for First Car Rental, and we look forward to an even greater year in 2016.