Customers complete the procedures to pick up their cars. (Photo/Fliggy)

Chongqing - "Almost no cars are left. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, many people had already made arrangements for car rentals during the National Day holiday," said a staff member from a local car rental agency in Chongqing on Saturday, adding that the booking rate at the store has reached 90 percent currently, with many tourists already picking up their vehicles.

According to data from online travel platform Fliggy, car rental bookings for the National Day holiday have increased by approximately 20 percent compared to last year. The period from September 28 to September 30 is expected to be the first peak for vehicle pickups during the holiday.

More and more people are choosing electric vehicles for rental because they offer spaciousness and high-cost performance. Meanwhile, due to the toll exemption policy for small passenger vehicles (up to seven seats) during this year's National Day holiday, many tourists are opting to rent self-driving cars. This allows them to explore not only the city's downtown but also many other districts and counties, said a staff member at a rental shop near Chongqingbei Railway Station on Saturday.

According to a report on 2024 self-driving travel in China released by the Institute of New Era Culture and Tourism recently, it is projected that in 2024, the number of domestic self-driving trips will account for 78 percent of total trips. By 2030, the domestic car rental market is expected to reach 300 billion yuan ($42.79 billion), with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 15 percent.

The booming car rental market has driven prices up. A recent check on a rental platform revealed that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a five-seat Nissan Sylphy was priced at around 120 yuan per day, while the same model has now increased to 260 yuan per day for the National Day holiday.

A staff member at a rental shop near Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport explained that this price surge is due to a sharp increase in short-term demand, strategic price adjustments by rental companies, and rising operational costs, among other factors.

However, the explosive growth in car rental and the uneven quality of rental companies have led to some issues in the market.

In response, many travel platforms have introduced measures to protect consumer rights. For example, Fliggy recently announced an upgrade to its car rental service standards. Suppose a merchant is unable to provide a vehicle after a consumer places an order. In that case, the platform has launched a self-service reallocation system to quickly offer suitable, high-quality vehicles. If consumers choose to forgo the reallocated vehicle for objective reasons, they can receive a full refund and compensation of three times the average daily rental rate or the price difference for renting a similar model (whichever is higher).

Industry insiders indicated that, influenced by changes in supply and demand and the broader trend of standardizing industry development, the domestic car rental market is shifting from focusing on supply and price competition to one centered on service and cost-effectiveness. Optimizing services has become an inevitable choice for rental platforms.

(Qiu Xiaoya, a reporter from Chongqing Daily, contributed the Chinese version of this report.)