With over 20 years of success, Caroline McComb, director of McComb’s Coach Travel reflects on how a small Belfast taxi service evolved into a leading force in local tourism. Guided by family values and a relentless drive to innovate, the family-run firm continues to deliver unforgettable experiences and strengthen Northern Ireland’s tourism scene
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00My name is Caroline McComb and I'm one of the directors here at McComb's Coach Travel.
00:11I look after all the things that you would assume that go along with running a small
00:16business.
00:17But that could be operational, it could be planning for the future, looking at coach
00:23purchases, it could be problem solving, no two days are the same for me.
00:29One of my favourite things to do is to plan for the future here at McComb's and I really
00:34love looking at what investment we can make, what new coaches we can bring in.
00:39But I also really love looking at the promotion of the business too and looking at how we
00:44can attract more people to come along and go on our tours and book us for a private
00:48hire, that's the side of the business I really enjoy the most.
00:51I am definitely one of Blake's planners, so if I was to give anybody a bit of advice
00:56before they come to Belfast or Northern Ireland, it's book and plan ahead, get yourself online
01:01and do some research and see what the real top and most popular things are to do in Belfast.
01:06Of course the first thing is to book your chance causeway through with McComb's, but
01:10even think about things like your airport transfer.
01:13Restaurants in Belfast can be really busy so it's good to look and see what type of
01:18restaurant you want to go to and get that booked in for who could come to Belfast and
01:22not have a visit to Titanic Belfast as well.
01:25A bit of friendly advice before they take our tour, it would be to come on time, in
01:29fact come early, come and check in, get your pick of the best seats on the coach and maximise
01:34the time that we can all have on the tour.
01:36So many weird and wonderful things that have happened to us but it's hard not to mention
01:41something really notable and things that we're looking after.
01:44The First Lady of America, Lady Bush when she was here, that was a real highlight for
01:49us and the big event, the MTV Video Music Awards that we're here to and we got to meet
01:55some very famous people which was very glamorous.
01:59We really love it whenever I get to help out and check in at those events and we get to
02:03see the people who are coming for the tour and they're so genuinely excited to go on
02:08the tour and so happy and I feel if we can really be warm and welcoming to them, that
02:14starts their day off really, really nicely and I really, really enjoy that side of the
02:19job too.
02:20Well, given that I am married to the other director of McCombs, of course I have to say
02:25yes.
02:26My favourite colleague and person to work with is Rodney, my husband, for the team here
02:30and I think we all work really, really well together and there's a great team spirit
02:34here so yeah, everybody.