Tourists face rocketing car hire prices this year as Covid forced rental companies to sell off their stock.

A visitor to Ireland picking up a mid-range car for a week in peak season June will pay €1,099 but a similar car was €400 to €500 before the pandemic caused devastating disruption to tourism.

One tourism expert explained: "There are people who were planning their trip here who would look at the flight price and then book the hotel.

"But now increasingly people are looking at car hire prices and then booking the flight and the hotel because they are incredibly high."

Many car hire firms were forced to sell off their fleets during the pandemic when tourism numbers crashed. They are now left with much fewer cars, according to the Car Rental Council of Ireland, which represents the industry in Ireland.

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The motor industry has noticed a massive slump in sales to the hire firms. The number of new hire cars registered in January 2022 was 369, down almost half from 697 a year earlier.

Society of the Irish Motor Industry boss Brian Cooke commented: "There is strong demand for new and used cars among consumers. Supply continues to remain a major challenge for the industry, while the hire drive market continues to be well below pre-pandemic levels."

Paul Redmond, of the Car Rental Council of Ireland, added: "Rental companies were forced to sell off their stock of vehicles during the pandemic. 'Going into 2022, stock levels were about 50% of what they would have been in prepandemic years.

"In rebuilding stock levels, car rental companies face a lack of supply of new cars from manufacturers. Global car production slowed substantially during the pandemic and there is now a huge backlog of orders for new vehicles.

"The problem is compounded by component supply issues for the production of new cars. 'High demand and supply shortages have resulted in more expensive and fewer new cars available to the Irish market.

"While current forecasts for overseas visitor numbers suggest that overall car rental demands can be met, the factors outlined above are likely to result in some shortage of rental cars in peak demand periods.

"It will take time for car rental companies to build car stocks back up. In the meantime, tourists should book cars early to secure the best rates."