cover story: Sheenco Travel
Make a Celtic Connection with a Sheenco Travel Franchise International travel is starting up again after more than a year of pandemic lockdowns and people are spending more on travel than ever before. That means it’s the perfect time to invest in a luxury travel franchise, says the CEO of Sheenco Travel. Genevieve Sheehan, who founded Sheenco Travel back in 2012, is currently looking for professionals across the United States to open a home-based travel franchise that focuses on bespoke luxury vacations in Ireland and the United Kingdom. One of the biggest advantages to joining Sheenco, Sheehan explained, is that franchisees only need to customize and sell the trips. Sheenco’s team in Ireland takes care of everything after that, including the tour bookings, the logistics and any issues that may pop up while the guests are traveling. “It’s a great opportunity for anyone who wants to get into the travel industry, but doesn’t know where to start,” Sheehan said during a recent interview from Sheenco’s Irish offices in County Cork. “We will be providing in depth and ongoing training and support and the booking of the trips is already taken care of.” 10 Franchising MAGAZINE USA
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One of the biggest advantages to joining Sheenco, Sheehan explained, is that franchisees only need to customize and sell the trips.
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Destination Management In 2012, Sheehan, along with a friend and former colleague from the industry, set up an Irish company called Shamrock Vacations. Shamrock operated as an inbound tour operator providing luxury travel opportunities to Ireland. By 2015, they were being asked to arrange combined trips to Ireland and Scotland, as well as to other parts of the UK. The little tour operator was getting a lot of repeat business and decided to expand. First, though, they needed a name change. As the shamrock is a national symbol of Ireland, the company could not trademark that, so they rebranded to Sheenco Travel in 2016, a name that is now federally trademarked in the USA, Canada, Australia and of course Ireland.
Travel Franchise Inc. is the Franchisor. Meanwhile the Irish company has transitioned into a destination management operation, meaning once the trip is sold by the franchisee, the team in Ireland manage everything after that. Eventually, Sheenco does want to expand its destination offerings, but it will likely do that at a relatively slow pace. This is because the company puts a strong emphasis on customer service and wants to retain its current 4.9-star ranking on Google and Trustpilot, so their focus right now is finding and supporting passionate individuals who are keen to start their own travel business via franchising.
In 2019, Sheehan bought out her cofounder and is now the sole owner of the company.
Eventual product expansion will likely be via acquisitions of other destination management companies who specialize in a given region, utilizing their unique systems and processes to ensure the Sheenco standards are maintained throughout all operations.
Deciding that franchising was the best option for expansion, Sheehan set up two US corporations headquartered in Plano, Texas. Sheenco Travel Inc. operates as an outbound tour operator and Sheenco
While Sheenco currently provides a niche product by only offering luxury travel opportunities to Ireland and the UK, these happen to be extremely popular products with US residents, as there is a strong
