Alamo Launches Industry-First Leisure Travel Amenities
27 April 2000
Alamo Launches Industry-First Leisure Travel Amenities
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--April 27, 2000--On April 28, Alamo Rent A Car will officially premier its revamped Fort Lauderdale facility offering leisure travelers a wide range of amenities never before seen in car rental industry.Alamo, the company that pioneered the car rental plaza concept, cements its reputation as an industry pioneer with the debut of its flagship Fort Lauderdale facility.
"This redesign is about more than just renting a car," said Alamo President Michael Going. "It's about making a commitment to address the unique and specific needs of leisure travelers. We believe these changes will better serve our customers and raise the standard of the leisure car rental experience."
Alamo designed the new plaza with help from San Francisco-based Landor Associates and Chicago-based Doblin Group.
Alamo's leisure-friendly innovations feature:
Travel Center - Multi-lingual touchscreen kiosks print out directions to area hotels, restaurants, local attractions and entertainment events. Each kiosk also contains a direct connect phone to a live concierge service.
Play Area - This two-story play area for youngsters has a crawl tube, climbing elevator, punching bags, activity panels, minivan clubhouse and a crazy slide.
Retail Center - This is the Alamo version of a mini-mart, with ample supplies of popular name-brand food and travel items. Vacationers can pick up sandwiches, soft drinks, film, children's travel games suntan lotion...even that forgotten toothbrush.
Luggage lockers - Travelers can place bags in these free lockers upon arrival, then pull the car around and load up before exiting, thus eliminating the stress of carrying luggage around the plaza.
Changing Booths - Private and easily accessible, these booths let customers change clothes and repack luggage. This feature particularly appeals to "sun city" vacationers traveling to or from different climates.
Signage, Go Guides, and Process Improvements - A host of changes ranging from brighter colors and clearer signs to streamlined process flow and user-friendly rental agreements, called Go Guides, add up to a vastly simplified car rental experience. The Go Guides even include a local area map with detailed driving directions and a list of local radio stations.
"Our initial goal was to enhance the car rental experience for the leisure traveler, that is, the type of individual who is typically less familiar with the car rental process; often travels with additional luggage and family members; and almost always needs directions. We simply listened to - and watched - our customers, then designed every amenity, every process change, every improvement around their needs," explained Going.
"We also found that business travelers are delighted with services such as the Web-enabled travel kiosk that prints out everything from directions to menus and the on-site retail center for snacks and sundries. It's just a win-win proposition for all our customers," he continued.
By the end of the year 2000, 31 Alamo locations within the United States will undergo some form of redesign. In addition to Fort Lauderdale, five of these locations - Orlando, Tampa, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles - will be redesigned to include the full complement of groundbreaking amenities listed above. Other cities will offer amenities in keeping with customer demands for that particular geographic area. By the end of the year, 50 percent of Alamo's customers will be able to enjoy this enhanced car rental experience.
Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Alamo serves more than 15 million travelers a year through 108 locations in the United States and Canada, and more than 400 international locations in Europe and Latin America. Alamo is a division of ANC Rental Corporation, which is itself a division of AutoNation (NYSE:AN). ANC Rental has combined annual revenue of approximately $3.5 billion.
Alamo can be reached on the Internet at www.alamo.com.
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