The boom in online shopping across the Middle East is spreading to car rentals, and Hertz UAE expects major growth in 2011 to continue at the same rate this year.

The UAE market leader announced today that it experienced a 35 per cent increase in online bookings for daily and weekly car rentals in 2011 over 2010.

This follows a recent report by research firm Euromonitor International which said online sales in the Arab world are forecast to top US$2 billion by 2016, amid a boom in e-commerce in markets including the UAE and Egypt.

Online shoppers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt spent $1.01bn on internet retail sites last year, and Hertz UAE’s online sales growth was driven by increased brand awareness.

“We ran various inbound and outbound campaigns on Hertz.ae and Hertz.com and used collateral, indoor and outdoor media, and direct marketing to promote both websites,” said Nigel Johnson, managing director of Hertz UAE (pictured above).

“The increase is split evenly between inbound and domestic UAE business, with the biggest increase inbound coming from western audiences, largely from Europe and the US.”