Meet the colourful tour company 'high chief' who has no time for Irish begrudgery
Cathal O’Connell believes Paddywagon tours ‘changed the industry forever’.
THE MAN BEHIND tour company Paddywagon says the business is almost unrecognisable to the way it was a decade ago – even if its gaudy green buses have stayed the same.
“Once upon a time, 90% of our market was Australian,” Cathal O’Connell tells Fora. “That’s down to 10% now because Australia’s youngsters don’t travel like they used to. It’s all middle-aged Americans now that are on a Paddywagon bus.”
The shift from backpackers to a more mature clientele has proved a financial boon for the company, which booked a €1.1 million profit for its most recent financial year – double what it made in 2015.
While Ireland’s travel industry as a whole is bracing itself for a shock from the sharp drop in British visitors, Paddywagon’s trade is booming thanks to the country’s increased air connections with North America, O’Connell says.
“On the greatest day we ever had, 5% of our travellers were British and that was it,” he says.
Paddywagon’s self-described ‘high chief’ believes Ireland’s regional tourism sector will also thrive if it focuses on growing its share of the US overseas travel market.
“The American market would be far more significant because the Americans spend five times more than the English, who generally base themselves in Dublin,” O’Connell says.
“The Yanks go around Ireland because they’re only here once or twice in their lives. They’re spending in rural Ireland while the Brit is getting pissed in the Temple Bar.”
‘Begrudgers’
Founded 20 years ago this year, Paddywagon has earned a reputation for running cheap and cheerful day tours to Ireland’s main tourist attractions like the Cliffs of Moher and Giant’s Causeway.
Today, the firm generates about €7 million in sales every year and has a fleet of about 170 leprechaun-emblazoned buses – a famous sight on Irish roads, although one that might make some locals shudder.
But O’Connell says people who dismiss Paddywagon’s tours as ‘tacky’ are nothing more than “begrudgers”.
“They’re just sorry they didn’t come up with the idea,” he says. “They’d begrudge anyone else. That’s the truth.”
He believes the entertainment factor and ‘paddywhackery’ is what helped make the company a success – and “changed the face of tourism in Ireland forever”.
“Before I came along, we thought Ireland would take care of itself,” O’Connell says.
“It did to a certain extent, but if you put a 50-horsepower engine behind it and offer a lot more than just the beauty of Ireland, you’re going to have a customer who’s enthused and totally excited about the country.”
Retail expansion
As well as operating day tours, Paddywagon provides private transport under sister brand Elegant Irish Tours.
It also runs six hostels, a B&B, a pub and seven souvenir shops. O’Connell says Paddywagon plans to “significantly increase” its retail presence in the coming years.
Paddywagon's Cathal O'Connell
In terms of other future plans, O’Connell says he hopes to capture a bigger chunk of the London market, where he operates day tours from the UK capital to Stonehenge, Oxford and other attractions under the brand name Day Tours London.
“One million go to Stonehenge by coach every year. I think we’ll settle for taking 250,000 ourselves,” he says.
When asked how the company survived for 20 years, O’Connell says: “A lot of hard work. A fairly consistent approach to what we do. Not taking crazy risks and slowly but surely all the way increasing at a rate of 10-15% a year. If we can keep doing that all the time, happy days.
“We’re not trying to conquer the world, but I want to build a steady, sustainable business that can manage itself if there’s any major upheaval in the world,.
“It’s an ambitious company and takes nothing for granted … If we can work at double the pace for the next 20 years, it should leave a little bit of a legacy knocking around.”
