CIÉ Tours International turns small profit on fewer tourists

Its bus and rail divisions might be struggling financially with the threat of routes and services being axed, but CIÉ’s international coach tours division is still turning a small profit.

CIÉ Tours International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CIÉ group, reported a surplus of €900,000 last year, although it represented a sharp 69% reduction on 2014 profit levels of €2.9m.

Falling profits resulted from a slowdown in business in 2015, with turnover down 6% to €81m, compared with €86.2m in the previous year.

Following several years of strong positive growth, the company said 2015 was a challenging year.

CIÉ Tours International, which was established in 1968 in Morristown, New Jersey, brings about 45,000 overseas visitors, predominantly US tourists, to Ireland and Britain annually on coach tours.

It purchases all tours, accommodation, tour packages and other services from its parent company. Last year, a total of 43,403 people travelled on a CIÉ tour – almost 5,800 fewer than in 2014 — a drop of almost 12%.

CIÉ chair, Vivienne Jupp, attributed the decline in volume and margin at the group’s international tours division to negative consumer sentiment towards European travel in general.

“Greater competition for lower numbers gave rise to margin pressure,” said Ms Jupp.

It said the timing of various terrorist incidents at the end of 2014 and start of 2015 combined with a worldwide Ebola scare took place during the main booking period for the majority of CIÉ Tours customers.

However, it said the outlook for this year was more positive with bookings up. According to Fáilte Ireland, a total of 369,000 tourists chose to see Ireland through the window of a bus in 2014 — the latest available figures.