My Job: Genevieve Sheehan's travel agency for North Americans booking bespoke travel to Ireland

Cork company prospered through recessions, global conflicts and the pandemic over its 14 years in operation

Genevieve Sheehan, chief executive and co-founder of Sheenco Travel.

Name: Genevieve Sheehan

Occupation: Chief executive and co-founder of Sheenco Travel

Background: Founded in 2012, the Cork-headquartered company with branches in the US and Canada provides privately guided, bespoke travel itineraries across Ireland and the United Kingdom

Keeping it personal has been an essential element of the guiding ethos powering Sheenco Travel since Genevieve Sheehan founded the bespoke luxury brand from her kitchen table at Goleen in West Cork back in 2012. 

Having worked in the travel industry in various roles up to that, she saw an opportunity in the market for a more personal, tailored approach to luxury travel in Ireland and the UK. 

“From my early days in the travel industry, I always loved building a personal connection with clients, helping them plan their dream holidays and milestone trips. Those personal relationships remained intact even after their vacations ended, and formed the basis for Sheenco Travel as a place where guest relationships could be nurtured.” 

Having prospered through recessions, global conflicts and the pandemic over its 14 years in operation, the company continues to grow in 2026 as it continues to operate a customer-centred mindset that has served it well so far. 

"I still maintain a personal relationship with every guest, which has turned out to be a recipe for success and a very high level of repeat business and referrals."

Last month, Sheenco Travel was shortlisted in the Digital Transformation & AI category at the Operational Excellence Awards. “Back in 2012, remote working was rare — we were really at the forefront and today we are a fully remote business with a team spread across Ireland, Canada and North America, from Calgary to Texas. 

Due to the global nature of our business, remote working has been central to our growth. Where availability is essential, expecting people to be tied to a traditional office simply isn’t practical or necessary.

AI-enabled systems and processes continue to play a key role, efficiently automating much of the process from a client’s first contact to the end of vacation communication they receive on returning home. 

“AI has made this working model truly possible for us, adding efficiencies throughout the guest journey. The client-facing elements remain human where it matters most, but supported by systems that ensure consistency, timing, and reliability.”

With July marking the high point of the tourist season, the sector’s outlook is generally positive so far in 2026. CSO figures confirm Ireland welcomed more than 1.3 million overseas visitors for the period January to March 2026, up 24% on the same three-month period in 2025, with a 25% increased spend of €909m in the first quarter of this year. 

With the three-month period of January to March usually amounting to 13% of total overseas visitor spend for the year, revenue growth from the major markets has increased, with North America up 26%, followed by 24% from mainland Europe, 22% from Great Britain and 22% from the rest of the world. 

Behind the figures is a constantly changing dynamic; however, as today’s visitor to Ireland brings a curiosity for new adventures, allied to many long-established trademarks. 

“One of the clearest ways you see the changes is in how vacationers travel to Ireland now,” Genevieve explains. “B&Bs and coach tours are still here, but demand has shifted to up-market castles, five-star manor hotels, the best golf courses in the world, private drivers, and bespoke itineraries.” 

One of the biggest drivers of this change is the North American market, which is itself changing fast. 

“Sheenco Travel is the premier luxury tour operator for North Americans booking bespoke travel to Ireland. We moved sales to the United States in 2022 via a contractor model, while keeping our operations team at home in Ireland.” 

When it became clear last year that many Canadians did not want to deal with an American-based team, Sheenco Canada was launched: “I received so many emails with this complaint and my response was always the same: we are Irish-owned, and I am a Canadian citizen myself — my own mother comes from a long line of Canadians who left Ireland in the 1800s. So we launched Sheenco Canada to meet that demand and evolving dynamic. 

Already this year many Canadians are looking for alternative travel destinations as they boycott the US, and many Americans are thinking twice about travelling to mainland Europe as they are unsure about how they will be received. Ireland is emerging as a natural choice for both.

She adds that in 2025, Canada was home to an estimated 4.6 million people of Irish descent, representing up to 15% of the Canadian population. In a recent census, almost 30,000 Canadian residents registered their place of birth as Ireland.

As has happened in so many aspects of modern living over the past five years, traveller behaviour has also changed following the pandemic — into a different outlook that gels well with the bespoke itineraries delivered by Sheenco Travel. 

“Visitors who would have climbed onto a packed coach had to consider private, made-to-measure trips because they felt safer and more in control. They liked that format and didn’t go back. 

Ireland’s own tourism trackers show the post-covid visitor has not returned to big buses: demand for coach tours has fallen sharply, while interest in private, custom and small-group travel continues to rise and is now described by operators as the segment driving normal or above-normal sales.

"Even the quietest corners of Ireland have moved far beyond the place many visitors still picture, she says. “In Ireland we’d call where I’m from in West Cork the back of beyond.

"Yet 30 miles from this rural village is Dede in Baltimore, a now two-Michelin-star restaurant. To get there, you have to pass Restaurant Chestnut in Ballydehob, run by a former schoolmate of mine who holds a star of his own.” 

Ireland now has dozens of castles in active use, from Ashford, Dromoland, Ballynahinch and Kilkea to Lough Rynn and Castle Leslie. These ancient edifices marry neatly alongside a wider pool of restored manor houses and a growing list of five-star hotels across the country. 

“Nevertheless, the best moments here aren’t transactional and never will be. We always build space into our trips to allow for authentic experiences and connections, because that’s still what sets Ireland apart. It’s the spontaneous sing-song, the easy, genuine chat in a bar or local shop, and the feeling that people constantly have time for you. Ireland may have changed, but the people haven’t.”