Business has finally picked up and I’am delighted to say for the first time this season we had both coaches full on Saturdays’ Cliffs tour, we were however lucky enough to have some groups which is a big help! Needless to say all our competing companies were similarly busy and I have a new pastime on tour and that is “spot the tour company” now this might seem strange, after all surely you look at the name on the side of the coach but this would have got you nowhere on Saturday, coaches were hired in from all over Ireland, so much for having a brand! Now I cannot say we never hire, we are forced into it by mechanical problems sometimes but on the whole if you take a Barratt Tour you will travel on a Barratt vehicle, that way we are sure air con and pa system etc are all working and if its not then it is our fault! As usual I suppose we just care too much but I believe our lovely fully liveried and clean vehicles are our greatest asset! I have to say when we were working together on Saturday and Celtic Star and Celtic Pride were parked side by side it is a great feeling to see your name emblazoned on the side, it makes it all seem worthwhile somehow!
Of course there are a few companies offering tours now that don’t even own any vehicles, maybe they are right but I couldn’t imagine taking an Aer Lingus or Ryanair flight without seeing a green shamrock or a golden harp – maybe I’am just old fashioned – what do you think?
Competition is becoming even fiercer now and I hear that one of our competitors in Limerick are now trying to do deals to win business, well if they read this (and I would be so flattered that they actually take the trouble!) I can re assure them we have made our one and only price cut and they can be sure if a customers’ buying decision is based on price then they will win, however it is based on quality, presentation and reputation then it could just be an entirely different story! As I have often said we have worked too hard to develop our little company to sell it out and cut corners and quality as I feel certain that it is quality that will win in the end, I hope so as we are gambling everything on it!
I hope I don’t come across as bitter in my ramblings (or rantings!) in fact I hope you deduce that I’am passionate about what we do and that I’am certain of our quality (we are certainly not cocky – just confident) and I hope some of you can identify with the fight we have against larger more faceless companies, you words of encouragement really do fire us up almost as much as the pleasure of dealing with the lovely free spirited and discerning customers we are attracting, keep in touch and I shall now be using facebook more so if you haven’t already why not become a fan and we can chat online!
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