Top car rental firms in South Africa are excited about an influx of business brought by major sporting events.

The CEO of Avis rent a car, Wayne Duvenage, said: “These two world sport events should boost the car rental industry, which is hurting from the economic downturn, by up to 10 per cent.
“Our firm has seen a rise in reservations as a result of the Confederations Cup and Lions tour, with foreign inbound business more than double what it was during the same period last year.”
"June is normally a low period for car rental and rental companies have spare capacity to be used in these periods, so it is good for us and the entire tourism industry that these big sporting events are taking place in the winter.

He added: “We are busy but we have not sold out yet."
Avis Rent A Car has proved flexible by moving 700 cars from Cape Town to Johannesburg, which is where most of the Confederations Cup football matches will take place.
The company has also placed an order for 100 new vehicles to cover the busy period.
The Confederations Cup will be staged in cities including Johannesburg, Tshwane, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg. Nobody is yet sure how many tourists the Confederations Cup, which kicks off on June 14, will attract to South Africa.

The CEO of Europcar, Dawn Nathan-Jones, said the company experienced "healthy forward bookings" because of these international events.
She said: “Some officials are already in the country and are hiring vehicles, especially the luxury and minibus sort.
“Furthermore our sister company Springbok Atlas is fully booked which is a clear indication of the high demand for coaches.”

According to Nathan-Jones Europcar is also flexible in moving vehicles around quickly.
"We use dealerships where we can to get maximum optimisation of fleet," she added.
Europcar has ordered some new luxury cars and minibuses but the company does not plan to buy more vehicles to cater for a three week event.

The managing director of Budget Rent A Car, Ray Booth, said demand for the company's rental cars was mainly coming from the Lions tour as 50,000 British and Irish rugby fans are heading to South Africa for the tour.