Ireland's car rental prices rose more than anywhere else in the world this year - up 267%.
A study, conducted by car hire group Discovercars.com, showed that Ireland's average hire price increased from €49 in June 2021 to €182 in June 2022.
The costs of car hire rose almost everywhere in the world.
Canada was the closest to Ireland in terms of an increase, with just a 3% difference at 264%, similar to the Azores Islands with 224%. The UK came in at an 85% increase, which was the eighth highest on the list, while the Czech Republic had a 131% increase putting them in fifth place.
The current cheapest location is the Canary Islands, where a daily rate will set you back just €29, showing an increase of just 2% year-on-year.
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Car hire prices in Ireland have been the subject of derision and bafflement, with an American couple revealing they were quoted €50,000 to rent a van for nine days in June - renting a helicopter was said to be cheaper.
The extortionate prices were said to have been caused by a lack of vehicles after the pandemic, but the rising fuel and costs of goods mean Ireland is becoming an increasingly expensive place to holiday in. The prices have resulted in strong comments from the Government, with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe recently saying excessive pricing will hurt companies in the long term.
He said: "The people who will pay the price for overcharging and charging prices that are far too high will be those businesses themselves as consumers vote with their feet with the goods and services they buy."
Tourism managers have said tourists are avoiding Ireland because of our exorbitant car hire costs.
Some desperate tour operators are even buying cars and reselling them after tourists leave because the price of car rental is so prohibitive.
Others are hiring buses rather than force their clients to pay car rental charges.
Some tourists are being quoted nearly €20,000 for a week's car rental, others have cancelled tours after being told that they would be charged €7,000 per week or more.
As inflation soars, experts are now calling for a Government investigation into price gouging by car rental companies and say it is adding to the stress facing tourists after the "nightmare" of ultra long queues and missed flights at Dublin Airport.
Tourism Ireland last month said that there was "undoubtedly" a problem with car hire and said there was no easy answer in sight.
Michael Vaughan, who runs the Vaughan Lodge Hotel in Lahinch, Co. Clare, said that one of his clients, a Cork-based tour operator, had to buy a second-hand Viano minivan in Scotland because it was cheaper than the €500 a day cost of car rental he was quoted.
The tour operator bought the minivan for €7,000 and then resold it when his guests had left.
Mr Vaughan said that a group of eight Canadians coming to his hotel were quoted €7,000 for just over one week's minivan rental.
He added: "It would be cheaper to buy a second-hand car at that price. In the end, they hired a bus and a driver, which was an amazing experience and it was far cheaper than car hire."
One of Mr Vaughan's American clients, who booked through a Dublin-based golf tour company, cancelled a trip to Ireland ten days before he was due to arrive after discovering how much it would cost to hire a car.
Another client from Chicago, who comes to Ireland six or seven times a year, told Mr Vaughan that a car rental company employee laughed when he said he wanted to rent a car.
Mr Vaughan called for Government intervention and said that car rental should be seen as a "national tourism asset that needs to be protected".
He said many car companies sold off their cars during the pandemic and have upped their prices on a much smaller fleet.
Mr Vaughan added: "This is coming at a time when the golf business is coming back for individual golfers. I don't know why the Government hasn't put a plan in place for the recovery of tourism after Covid."
