The Automotive Tourism Industry Booms
In the past decade, the internet has recently become a more and more popular shopping mall. But car dealership? Apparently renting and buying cars online is less of a hassle than one would have imagined. And it’s becoming a pretty popular concept.
The new rise of “Automotive Tourism,” as online car shopping is spurring more people to travel to other regions to pick up their vehicle, an action replacing shopping at the local dealer.
When people travel to pick up their car they provide a slight boost to local economy via lodging, restaurants and minor sight-seeing. Here are the top-10 destinations where people are traveling to pick up a car they bought online:
1. Daytona Beach, Fla.
2. Dallas, Texas
3. Baltimore, MD
4. Nashville, Tenn.
5. Thousand Oaks, Calif.
6. Tuscon, AZ
7. Phoenix, AZ
8. St. Paul, MN
9. Reston, VA
10. Cleveland, Ohio
LeaseTrader.com, the nation’s most popular car leasing marketplace, sees a rise in what it has dubbed “Automotive Tourism,” where people travel outside their own region to retrieve a car they’ve shopped for online.
Online car shopping has been a growing trend for some time now, and on LeaseTrader.com people takeover the remaining portion of vehicles still under contract as a way to get a short-term lease with no down payment. A nationwide service, 15 percent more people this year are taking over leases from LeaseTrader.com outside their own region.
While LeaseTrader.com provides transportation quotes for people who want the vehicle shipped to their location, a growing percentage are traveling outside their region to pick up the car and drive it back, an act LeaseTrader.com has dubbed “automotive tourism.”
Roughly 38 percent of all lease transactions now take place between two people not in the same region – sometimes as far away as New York and California. This is up from 31 percent just five years ago. Of these transactions, 54 percent now travel to the region where the car is located and drive the vehicle back. This compares to just 12 percent five years ago.
Because of the great deals offered people still save a significant amount even after the cost of travel.
“Like other areas of the economy, the Internet continues to change the way people shop for vehicles,” said Sergio Stiberman, CEO and founder of LeaseTrader.com.
“Many customers enjoy a significant cost savings because there’s no down payment and they customize the lease terms by shopping for the right lease anywhere in the country. Even with the cost of a plane ticket they come home with large savings.”
Most people travel to other regions with a distance of between four and ten hours of return drive time.
About LeaseTrader.com
LeaseTrader.com, the most recognized name in car leasing, easily and affordably matches car shoppers with individuals looking to escape their auto lease. Privately held and founded in 1998, LeaseTrader.com is headquartered in Miami. For more information visit their site, follow them on Twitter, or call 800-770-0207.