Rental car reservation patterns in island tourism: Case study in Shodoshima, Japan

Abstract

The tourism industry plays a pivotal role in the local economies of island communities and offers many attractive activities for tourists. As public transportation tends to be less developed in such island regions, one of the main modes of transportation is rental cars. The supply of rental cars is limited, and tourism demand tends to be seasonal in the island regions. In addition, there is a possibility that some customers may not use rental cars regardless of the price, and others may not make reservations if it is the season when rental cars can be rented without reservations. Therefore, car rental companies need to develop products that match the demand situation, such as peak season and off-season, and tourist characteristics during the seasons to improve profitability. However, little attention has been paid in the academic community to seasonal changes in customers’ car rental reservation behavior in islands. This study investigated the changes in customers’ rental car reservation behavior during the peak and off-peak seasons on Shodoshima Island, Japan, using a questionnaire survey. The results indicated that there are three factors that affect reservation behavior and that there are four patterns of reservation changes depending on the combination of these factors. By comparing the characteristics of segmented groups with different patterns of reservation change, it is suggested that a dynamic change in rental car reservation behavior occurs around retirement age in Japan. The results of this study provide insights into product development to improve the profitability of the tourism industry in island regions.