Tour guide in Killarney Seamus O.

Hello everybody! My name is Seamus. I grew up in West Kerry, in a beautiful and rural part of Ireland, where I never took all the wonderful and charming scenery for granted. My parents had a transport business which back then was bringing people to their place of work mainly factories, delivering coal to houses, bingo, nightclubs etc. The company gradually expanded and entered the tourism market in the mid 1990's. I got my bus licence at the age of 21 and I started to work in my parents travel business. I progressively got all the bus and truck licences. I started to drive and deal with tourists and visitors coming to discover the capital city of Dublin and travel around of all the impressive topography and geography that Ireland have to offer. I loved every part of it and I started to read lots of books and teach myself about Irish fauna, literature, sports, folklore, old and new traditions, roads, songs and the popular tourist attractions like "Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle, Giant's Causeway, Kylemore Abbey, Rock of Cashel, Skellig Michael, Newgrange, Slea Head drive etc. " just to mention a few. I learned how to communicate, welcoming and greeting effectively and appropriately with different nationalities and trying to find what the groups are expecting and their needs to make their travel experience unforgettable The groups were small at the beginning, family groups, golf groups, walking groups but new coaches were bought and my confidence on being on the road developed so I started to drive bigger coaches with a tour guide next to me. I drove all the narrow roads in Ireland and I was listening to the tour guide's comments, how they were behaving towards the clientele, how they achieved a successful tour, how they were approaching to the vendors or how they were coming out successfully of travel difficulties that happened during the tour, I admired every one of them as they were dedicated to their work and being very professional and knowledgeable with all the tours. I must say I absorbed and learned information from them. Some tour operators started to ask me if I could do driver guiding and I decided to give it a go, as result I got very good feedback with very happy customers leaving the Emerald Island. I have a proficient knowledge of National, secondary and local roads, traffic regulations and signs and all that is connected with coaches as I have been in the driving seat for most of my working life. A few years ago I decided to change seats and be in the Tour guide seat. I had the opportunity of working as a Tour Director for a Tour company and break into my guiding career. I am qualified National Tour Guide and I am member of the ATGI (Approved Tourist Guides of Ireland) I am working as a self-employed tour guide at the moment. I provide a brand new 2024, Ford Tourneo ( Wi-Fi on board) with a capacity for seven passengers as I hold a PSV driver license (licence required by the National Transport Authority in Ireland) and the vehicle is licensed as SPSV( licence certificate of the vehicle) . I am delighted to have joined such a wonderful company as ToursByLocals, and I am looking forward to working with them in the future. * QQI level 6 National Tour Guiding certificate and Failte Ireland approved badge, including Irish Tour Guiding, National Tour Management and Irish Natural Heritage and Culture. *QQI level 5 Archaeology-Cultural and Heritage Studies * QQI level 5 Infection, Prevention & Control. * Failte Ireland Covid-19 safety charter for tourism & hospitality businesses. *Failte Ireland Customer Service Excellence Certificate * Member of ATGI (Approved Tourist Guides of Ireland) * QQI level 5 Foundation in Guiding for Drivers. * Irish Red Cross Society First Aid and CPR Certificate. * RSA Approved Driver CPC Training Certificate. * Driving Licences: B, C, C1, D, D1, CE, C1E, DE, D1E, M and W. *All the licences are full and clean. *Holding a current valid PSV licence. *Owner of SPSV vehicle,impeccable and comfortable 7 seater Ford Tourneo with all the insurance, licence and quality control needed are in order. * 30 years in the Tourist industry. *Irish Speaker. * My Ford Tourneo vehicle can carry on up to 7 passengers. * It is not a wheelchair accessible vehicle.