Car rental expansion part of $23 million local economic impact.
ST. LOUIS – Nashville is a growing hot spot for travelers, based on the latest rental reservation data from all three of Enterprise Holdings‘ brands – Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car. The combined brands are seeing a double-digit year-over-year increase in car rental transactions at Nashville International Airport, with local Enterprise Rent-A-Car neighborhood locations also reporting a significant increase.
“We view an increase in rentals at our airport branches as a strong indicator of increasing business and leisure travel in Nashville,” said Darren Gottschalk, vice president of Enterprise Holdings in Nashville.
Enterprise Holdings’ diverse brand portfolio accounts for more than 6,000 fully staffed neighborhood and airport offices from coast to coast, almost 70 percent more than its nearest U.S. competitor. These convenient and accessible offices – operated through Enterprise Holdings’ regional subsidiaries – are located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, including 43 in the greater Nashville area alone.
Since last summer, the company has opened two new locations in the region and plans to add several more in the coming year. This includes a new Cool Springs, Tenn., location, which will offer the Exotic Car Collection by Enterprise. Set to open this fall, the Cool Springs branch will provide customers access to one of the largest selections of vehicles from some of the world’s top luxury manufacturers. Meanwhile, Enterprise Truck Rental and Enterprise CarShare locations also continue to support Nashville’s growing community and serve regional transportation needs.
“We’re enhancing services for our customers,” Gottschalk explained, “while also simultaneously creating jobs, using local vendors, stimulating economic growth and making our local operations more sustainable.”
For example, since 2010, Enterprise, National and Alamo operations have reduced energy and water usage throughout the Nashville area by 21 percent and 39 percent respectively. These reductions were achieved as part of Enterprise Holdings’ 20/20 Vision program – a voluntary initiative developed to help the company’s regional subsidiaries identify innovative, scalable solutions for cutting energy use and costs by 20 percent during the last five years.
Enterprise Holdings’ overall annual economic impact in the greater Nashville area is significant. Since August 2014, the company has made the following key contributions totaling almost $23 million:
- $13.5 million in state and local tax revenues
- $8 million spent with local body shops, dealerships and vehicle maintenance facilities
- $1.1 million in companywide purchases from diverse suppliers based in the Nashville area
- $315,000 raised by employees and matching Enterprise Holdings Foundation donations for the United Way’s local Middle Tennessee chapters
- $65,000 in donations by the Enterprise Holdings Foundation to local charities, such as Make A Wish Foundation, Governors Books from Birth, Ronald McDonald House, Urban League, YMCA of Middle Tennessee, Austin Peay State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
Enterprise Holdings’ continued growth in the Nashville area is supported by its high standards for customer service. Every month, Enterprise Holdings conducts telephone surveys of hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide, and each location earns a ranking based on the percentage of customers who say they were completely satisfied with their last rental experience. Locations in the Nashville area scored well above the corporate average, achieving a new local record for customer satisfaction.
Enterprise Holdings’ record-setting surge in business in the Nashville area comes on the heels of strong regional growth during fiscal year 2014 and is on trend with the city’s rapid expansion. In fact, Nashville ranks as the ninth fastest-growing big city in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Our emphasis on service continues to be a major contributor to our growth here,” added Gottschalk. “We focus on building loyal, long-term relationships during each and every transaction, for both out-of-towners as well as local Nashville residents.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
