World's leading holiday car rental set to conquer regional markets

The Middle East operation is now owned 50 percent by U.S based Sabre Holdings and 50 percent by Managing Director Nazar (Naz) Musa, a 10-year veteran of Holiday Autos where he managed the International Division based in the UK. Holiday Autos International Ltd. was part of lastminute.com before the internet leisure portal was bought out by Sabre Holdings for AED 3.8 billion earlier this year. In the UAE, Holiday Autos has a GSA relationship with Axis Holidays Worldwide, a wholesale division within the Emirates Group of Companies, who develop sales through the travel trade community on behalf of the company.

Holiday Autos Middle East is a broker dealing with the world's best car rental suppliers and negotiating the lowest possible rates and savings for customers. Whether inbound to the Middle East or outbound to anywhere in the world, holiday autos guarantees customers the lowest car rental prices possible. They are the only leisure car rental company in the region.

'Around the globe, Holiday Autos is synonymous with fast-paced and agile business tactics that has one focus - making holiday car rental low cost and easy for our customers,' says Naz, 'I myself have been focused on one objective since I moved out here for the UK - ensuring the same benefits for our customers taking holidays from and to the Middle East.'

Since its inception in 1987, Holiday Autos has rewritten the rules surrounding the sale of car rental by taking the mystery out of the booking process and so offering customers affordable, fully inclusive prices, backed by great service. Holiday Autos was the first car rental operator to introduce fully inclusive prices with absolutely no hidden costs. Previously, customers were quoted prices exclusive of a whole host of required extras.

Naz calls the formula a 'win-win-win' situation. In 2004, Holiday Auto's turnover was approximately £210m (AED 1.4 billion) handling in excess of 10 million car rental days. Since arriving in Dubai he has been busy moving the old office to a new location, updating the online-booking system, transferring best-practice marketing tools from the head-office in the UK and hiring extra staff to meet the demands of the company's new business plan.

Holiday Autos Middle East bookings can be made at most travel agencies, on their website www.holidayautos.ae or by calling the Holiday Autos Middle East office. The company is constantly investing heavily in developing technologies to ensure customers have the best online booking experience possible. Over 70% of the company's global business is transacted online.

Naz' territory covers the Middle East region with sales offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. He commented on his ambitious aim to grow the network in the coming years.

'We plan to increase our turnover by 300% in the next two years and early indications are that this is definitely an achievable target. Business has been great and there's nothing stopping us doubling our original forecast by the end of the fiscal year.'