Dollar Rent A Car hoping for happy holidays

Holidays are filled with fun and family for most. But for the travel industry, it's all business. Tulsa-based Dollar Rent-A-Car is no different. And as News on Six business reporter Steve Berg tells

Monday, November 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Holidays are filled with fun and family for most. But for the travel industry, it's all business. Tulsa-based Dollar Rent-A-Car is no different. And as News on Six business reporter Steve Berg tells us, dollars are just what they need.

At Dollar's worldwide reservation center in east Tulsa, they're giving thanks for busy phone lines. Jay Foley with Dollar Rent A Car, "It's certainly been a struggle. The economy is struggling, airline traffic is down and that affects our business very directly."

The car rental companies are close to the airline industry both physically and financially. And the counters inside the Tulsa International Airport, like all the car rental counters here, is quiet. One of the first ripples from September 11th hit here. And they say the water is still choppy. "It's starting to come back but it clearly is not back to the pre 9/11 levels of business that we were rolling on in."

Now as we head over the river and through the woods. They hope it will be in a rental. The holidays are not the peak time of year, that's summer. But they help jump start the company's books during the cold months. "The holiday season helps us through the otherwise very slow fourth quarter period of time so it's important to us."

The good news for Tulsa is that Dollar says they're the Southwest Airlines of the car-rental game. They're continuing to do well in spite of the economy. "This upcoming holiday season for example, we're pretty much sold out across our primary locations." Which makes for an early Christmas present for their company.

After hitting a low around $10 a share early this year, Dollar's stock jumped back up to around $25 a share. They're now holding steady in the $20 range.