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Calgary Herald

Looking to rent a car in Calgary? Good luck with that

Tourists looking to rent some wheels on their vacation in the city might be out of luck, as the summer season brings an explosive demand of customers to Calgary's car rental market. Article content Pal Sahota, a manager for the Toronto Branch for Zoom Rent A Car who is also involved with the company's Calgary location, said the car rental market is very seasonal, with peak vehicle rentals taking place from the end of June towards mid-July. Article content Article content Article content 'Calgary is very different than us here in Toronto, because in Calgary, there's not walk-in customers that show up to the door looking for cars they can get here,' Sahota said. 'Most people make appointments when they need a car. It's very slow in general, but summer's when it's really busy.' Article content Article content As a car rental service near the airport, Sahota said its fleet is usually sold out in the summer, with the weekend as the busiest times through the season. Article content A trend Sahota notices with his clientele is the different destinations their customers visit during their time in Calgary. Although they might stop in for the Stampede, tourists also take the time to drive to places outside of the city. Article content 'From experience, we have a lot of clients from the U.S. that fly into Calgary,' Sahota said. 'They're mainly driving to Banff, Lake Louise, and the Jasper area. Because we are close to those places and the mountains, that's why we get a lot of clients.' Article content Article content Sahatat Tanzir, associate manager with the downtown Calgary Hertz Car Rental, said the business would receive on average between 10 to 15 car rental requests a day in May. By June, business quickly started to pick up for the summer vacation season. Article content 'So now, on an average, we are giving about 20 retail rentals,' he said. 'It also depends on the location. If you compare us to the airport location, let's just say for today, there can be 250 to 300 rentals in one day.' Article content Depending on the time when customers rent a vehicle, Tanzir said that rates can vary if they decide to rent during the week or over the weekend.