New Brunswick's rental car and tourism industries, although rebounded, have not reached the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Patrons and staff at a car rental counter at Love Field airport Friday, May 28, 2021, in Dallas. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-LM Otero
FREDERICTON – Tourism in New Brunswick is approaching pre-pandemic levels, but the province’s rental car industry is facing an uphill climb.
A new study by Statistics Canada says tourism activity in the province turned around rapidly last year but was still 20 per cent lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
High rental car prices were among the factors the study says affected the pace and extent of tourism recovery in the province.
Statistics Canada says that while inflation led to significant price increases for hotel rooms and restaurants, some of the steepest increases in the province in the past two years were in the rental car industry.
The study says rental car prices rose by nearly 50 per cent last year compared with 2019.
It says the passenger car rental industry is struggling to replenish its inventories because companies are still having a difficult time purchasing new cars.
An earlier Statistics Canada study from British Columbia found that rental vehicle fleets in that province were depleted during the first year of the pandemic and have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2023.
