Interview with Frank Camacho, Staff VP Marketing - U.S. Rent A Car, The Hertz Corporation

How do you assess the progress made by your company recently? - (9/28/2005)

We have made good progress in both the leisure and commercial markets. In addition we have expanded our premium product line, the Hertz Prestige Collection in response to continuing growth in demand.

What new trends have you witnessed in the US?

Travelers continue to move to the web to book and over half of all RAC reservations are now made that way. We are below that because of our commercial business, as they have been slower to adopt the web. In addition, luxury travel is expanding and customers are increasingly interested in add-ons like NeverLost GPS and Sirius Satellite radio.

What do you think is driving these changes?

With regard to the web, the growth of broadband, increasing comfort shopping on the web and general maturing of the market. With regard to luxury travel and assorted add-ons, just a general search for a better experience and the feeling that a vacation is important in today's world.

How do you think consumer preferences are changing towards car rental services?

Consumers are starting to see RAC (rent a car) as a part of the vacation experience. They see things that can enhance the total vacation like Prestige vehicles, GPS, and satellite radio and they want them.

How do you think your company differs in its offerings?

Hertz was the first to introduce GPS and still has the only proprietary in-car installed system. We are one of two that offer satellite radio. And Hertz is still the only company that lets its customers reserve a specific make and model of vehicle in a broad variety of categories.

How do you think you have made your operations user friendly?

We have long had #1 Club Gold service allowing customers to bypass lines and go directly to their cars. In the past few years we have enhanced the services available in the basic #1 Club program (not Gold) as well. These now include a separate expedited line for check-in, e-mailed special offers for customers who request them, and access to copies of bills on our website.

What new trends have you witnessed as far as usage of online medium is concerned for customer service in terms of saving his/her time and offering convenience?

Not much new this year, but in the past few years, an increasing desire to use the Web to shop and book travel 24 hours a day, at home or at work. We have two peaks on our Website: lunch time (from work) and in the late evening (from home.) So clearly these customers are comfortable shopping and booking on the web.

How do you think online as a distribution medium has evolved as far as car rental service in concerned?

In the beginning we had simple supplier sites that allowed a reservation to be made, some information to be obtained, and pictures of cars to be displayed. Over time that has expanded to allow complete account management, copies of bills, changes to personal profiles and preferences, maps and weather information for the destination, and statements of past rentals and points earned for renting.

The third party sites have also improved, from offering simple reservation capability to enhanced shopping and search capability, and even the ability to reserve more types of vehicles than before.

What do you think are the challenges going forward?

As the market continues to mature, they tend to demand more information, better response time and simpler interfaces. Some of these (simple and more for example) are counter to each other and require better technology. The growing use of PDA's and cell phones that are more like browsers means that the concept of design for a Website will have to be broadened also.

Vacation rentals concern residents

08/11/2005

By Todd Thatcher , Staff Writer

Residents of Hershey's Cedar Avenue, along with Derry Township officials, are concerned that local owners renting out their houses to visitors may be a growing trend - and it's one they want to nip in the bud.
Diane Leonard, who lives on Cedar Avenue, is worried that if such renting is allowed, the trend will only grow, and ultimately change the character of the village of Hershey.
"I speak for most of the neighborhood in that we're concerned this is going to be an up-and-coming trend, and the neighborhoods we're used to where you know your neighbors and look out for each other might change," she said.
The properties in questions are located at 310 Cocoa Ave. and 164 Cedar Ave.
After purchasing the 310 Cocoa property last spring, new owners - and realtors - Chris and Joy Daniels - quickly began renovations, turning it into a 2,500-square-foot vacation home that, according its listing at www.vacationhomerentals.com, offers four bedrooms, a backyard deck, a fireplace, and a game room.
The owners argue that they are not violating any zoning regulations by renting their property.
"We believe we are using the property in accordance with the applicable zoning regulations," the Daniels said in a statement. "We will be promptly seeking clarification and confirmation of the use from the Derry Township Zoning Hearing Board."
According to a listing at www.heartofhershey.com, the 126 Cedar house includes three bedrooms, one-and-a-half baths, a kitchen, dining room, and living room, and rents for $175 a night during the "on" season and $140 a night during the off-season.
"We purchased it last fall - September or October," Francine Walker, the owner of the Cedar Avenue property, said. "We actually had our first renters in over Thanksgiving."
According to Walker, the home has been rented by everyone from tourists to people with family in town - as well as visiting members of her own family.
"It's been sporadic, especially during the fall or winter - [then it's mostly] local townspeople who had relatives to visit over the holiday," she explained. "At least half of it has been local people. Our friends and family use it too, so to make it a bit cost-effective, we rent it too."
Walker said she has never heard any complaints from neighbors about the rental activity - quite the contrary, in fact.
"An immediate neighbor said he has been very happy with it actually - much more so than the previous owner," she said. "We live in town ourselves, so we meant in no way for this to be bothersome to people."
But following complaints from neighbors of the 310 Cocoa Ave. property, Jeff Keiser, the township's director of community development, stepped in, making the rental issue a priority for his department.
"We heard the allegations here in the department for a number of weeks," Keiser said. "We were periodically looking at the property, and about two weeks ago, we were able to find people that were staying at each of the dwellings and talk to them. They both indicated they were there for about week."
Keiser then looked into the township's related zoning ordinances to find out what provisions about length or type of rental - if any - were being violated.
"The use of that or any other property is governed by the zoning ordinances," he said. "We don't come out and say, 'You can't do that.' The way most zoning ordinances are written is to spell out what you're allowed to do, not what you're not.
"It was my determination that that use was not permitted in a village residential district, which these properties are both in. I sent a cease-and-desist order to the owners of both properties. "
Walker said that she was told the opposite by a township zoning officers when she first looked at the 126 Cedar house.
"Prior to purchasing the property, we spoke to a zoning officer who said there's nothing in the regulations that say we can't do what we're doing," she said. "What I was told was 'That's an interesting question, but there's nothing that says how long a property can be rented.'"
Both property owners have appealed Keiser's order to the [Derry Township] Zoning Hearing Board.
"What will happen now is that will be discussed at the zoning hearing board's meeting on Sept. 21," he explained. "The board has 45 days then to render a decision. The board could uphold my position or overrule it."
According to Keiser, his cease-and-desist order will be staid until the hearing board has made a decision, meaning the owners will be able to rent their property's at least until that time.
In the meantime, residents of Cedar Avenue are working to make sure their opposition continues to be heard by township officials.
"We spoke early on with some of the township staff, and later in the process we've spoken with some of the township supervisors about it," Leonard said. "There's a petition that's going to be circulated and that's going to be presented at the September supervisors meeting, and I know there's lots of signatures on that."