Well it has been a fairly uneventful week and I have to report that numbers are still at a very low level, we are surviving but only just! Those of you that have followed our progress over the years will know only too well that we are not people to sit back when business is poor instead we are always looking to re invent ourselves to appeal to a broader market and that’s what we hope we are doing now.
The business form Limerick has always been a bit unpredictable and over the years a sizeable chunk of our business came from Dublin in the form of day tours and short breaks using our rail connection but this business has literally been snatched from our grasp by the growing band of operators offering day tours to The Cliffs offering exclusively coach travel. When these were initially launched we watched with mild amusement at their antics flying around trying to fit 400 plus miles into a day tour and thought that it would never catch on but how wrong we were, there are now 3 operators fighting over this declining market and inevitably taking a chunk of our business. So what are we going to do? The obvious answer would be to launch our own tour but that is not our style apart from the fact that we have no desire to drive over 2000 miles a week we do not feel that the bus only option is a realistic one for our passengers, it might sound great on paper but from feedback we hear it is not always so good in reality!
The train really does score highly over coach travel as a way to cross Ireland, I have to be honest and say that the scenery of the Midlands is hardly spectacular whichever way you go, so why not just relax, walk around or have a drink and arrive refreshed to board a coach for the interesting bit with a driver that is fresh and happy without having already done 150 miles and thinking about the next 250!
We have decided to launch a new tour from Dublin leaving on Saturday and Sunday at the very civilized time of 10.00 to The Cliffs using the train as far as Limerick with a simplified tour that gives a full 2 hours at The Cliffs whilst still giving a taste of The Burren for a price that is little more than the bus all the way option, this includes a reserved seat on the train for only Eu49.00.
Or what I think is our best deal ever is we are offering that tour with a hotel in Limerick on Saturday night and our Blarney tour to return to Dublin on Sunday night for only Eu99.00 pps – how’s that for value!
Now you may be wondering how we can do this well I’am going to let you into a trade secret, we do not pay agents commission on any Dublin packages – many other companies are now giving over half their fare to third parties, we don’t think this makes long term sense, we would rather pass on the savings and receive our bookings online direct. Now this might sound a bit fanciful after all doesn’t everyone book tours at the tourist office or their hostel or hotel? We don’t think so, I remember a certain well known Irish airline effectively cutting out travel agents and going to all online bookings – was this a crazy decision? I don’t think so and neither do Ryanair, they seem to be doing rather well out of it!
Our only snag to all of this is spreading the word, we are just organizing a new brochure and a flyer promoting our summer specials and we have another project bubbling along rather nicely which will involve a new website, also we have new nicetours.biz packages about to be launched – busy times but hopefully we are turning the corner and might show our competitors that this little company could just give the Goliaths a hit where it hurts but we can only do this with your help – give us a try, we are sure you wont regret it!
Personally the lack of business does take its toll, by this time of year we are normally settled into the frame of mind of working hard and devoting all our time to running tours and looking after our coaches but at the moment we are running tours and thinking of ways to create more business like web changes, designing brochures and general marketing which honestly does take its toll, all we talk about is business, be it bemoaning the lack of it or discussing ways to create it, our Thursday night out is the only “us” time left and that goes by way too quickly!
So can we win if we fight the good fight? We think so but we can only do it with passengers so check out our new offers and give us a try, you will be more welcome than ever!!
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