Within the framework of the Fitur 2023 Special, Mamerto Cabrera, CEO of CICAR, answers questions from Radio Lanzarote, takes stock of the past year and anticipates that 2023 begins "incredible in reservations."
- Last year it seemed that it was going to be a complicated year, we came from a health crisis, which for the automotive sector was double due to the lack of chips... What is your assessment of 2022 for CICAR?
For us, last year was very good, better than we expected. Many people came to the Canary Islands and it was very good. In fact, I think 2022 was the best of the last few years.
- The growth of vacation homes in rural areas makes renting a vehicle more necessary than ever. How has this new phenomenon impacted you?
I think that rural tourism, as you say, needs to have a car because otherwise, you can't move. I think this phenomenon has also made us go up a bit.
- In 2023, are you still having that problem with the chips? How has this issue affected the renewal of your fleet at CICAR?
We have had a hard time renewing the fleet in recent times, but now we can start selling cars and renewing the fleet more frequently. The issue of chips is gradually being resolved. Yesterday I had a visit from the president of Opel here and he told me that we can now place orders for the cars we want, not just the ones that are left over.
- One of CICAR's innovations is that it offers an experience to tourists who rent a car with an audio guide. How is that project going?
It's working very well. I tell the people of the Canary Islands that they can download it from the internet page and download it to their phone. I would really like them to listen to it, because everyone tells me that it is a very good guide. It is an on-board guide. I was born in Lanzarote and with the audio guide I have learned things about the island that I thought were different and I think it is the same on all the islands.
- Tell us, what are the car rental forecasts for 2023?
I think that car rental is good for everyone, because it makes people move around all the islands from one side to another, they go to the bars, leaving money to everyone in general. This year 2023 we have an incredible year of reservations, out of the ordinary.
