News

Goleen duo's travel firm eyes up German market for expansion

May 27th, 2018 11:50 AM

By Jackie Keogh

Sheenco Travel – which was formed by Genevieve Sheehan and Isabella O'Connor, both of whom hail from Goleen

Share this article

A West Cork company has won the tender to run VIP and media familiarisation trips for Cathay Pacific, which will be running its inaugural flight between Dublin and Hong Kong on June 2nd next.

 

A WEST Cork company has won the tender to run VIP and media familiarisation trips for Cathay Pacific, which will be running its inaugural flight between Dublin and Hong Kong on June 2nd next.

The company, Sheenco Travel, was also recently accredited as an All-Star Luxury Bespoke Travel Specialist and has announced its plans to extend its reach to the German market in 2019.

The Business All-Stars is an annual competition designed to identify, recognise, and accredit Irish companies and individuals that have distinguished themselves in business over the last 12 months. 

Sheenco Travel – which was formed by Genevieve Sheehan and Isabella O’Connor, both of whom hail from Goleen – specialises in customised travel throughout Ireland and the UK, and places special focus on castles. Since its foundation in 2012, the company has built up a solid customer base in the US and Canada. More recently this has extended to include both Australia and New Zealand.

The company’s most popular product is its fully customised chauffeur-driven tours, which they offer to solo travellers, couples, and larger groups. 

Other products include self-drive tours, golfing holidays and special interest tours and Sheenco also operates its own scheduled castle tours where customers spend every night in an authentic castle. 

Sheenco Travel – which recorded sales of over m in 2017 – has succeeded in this luxury market by consistently offering high standards and exemplary customer service. 

There was more good news for the company when Genevieve made the shortlist in the Business Woman of the Year Award from Network Cork. Sheenco Travel was also a finalist in two categories: Best Use of Digital and Best SME with 10 employees or less. Since it was established, the company has grown from a team of two to ten full-time employees, all of whom work from their homes throughout West Cork.

There was more success when, in December, the company secured an exclusive contract with Fáilte Ireland to run familiarisation trips for international buyers looking for specific products, such as hotels, attractions and transportation services.

So it was the icing on the cake when, arlier this month, Sheenco Travel won the tender to run VIP and media familiarisation trips for Cathay Pacific.

Share this article