Zee Michaelson Travel

Who Is Celtic Tours With Diana

Zee Michaelson & Jay Lawrence
Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where every journey is a story waiting to be told. I'm your host, z Michelson, and I'm so excited to take you on a ride through the world's most incredible destinations, hidden gems and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. Each episode, we'll be diving into everything from must-see landmarks to off-the-beaten-path treasures, speaking with locals and travel experts and sharing stories that will inspire your next adventure. So sit back, relax and let's wander the world together, one destination at a time. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Speaker 2:

Hi, it's me again, zee Mifelson, and we are here again sweating our keisters off in a beautiful summer day here in Florida, and I am with Diana from Celtic Tours. Hi, Diana.

Speaker 3:

Hi, at least there's a nice breeze, everything's nice. Little breeze, little breeze.

Speaker 2:

You know we've been talking a lot these past few weeks about Celtic Tours. You know, going to Ireland, going to Scotland, we talked about Christmas markets, we talked about Halloween, but what we really never talked about is how Celtic Tours came about. Great, no, how did we miss that? I don't know. I mean, there's so much that Celtic Tours does. It's just, you know, think about how it started. So how did it start?

Speaker 3:

Well, let me tell you, it's an amazing story. Actually, it's one of those American Dream kind of stories. That's nice. Mr Noel Murphy, who is president or CEO, excuse me and owner of our amazing company, right, he actually came over from Dublin. He is from Dublin, oh yeah. He went to Albany, new York, you know, that's where he planted himself.

Speaker 2:

Well, albany, new York is a bit chilly. I know that I used to live right outside of Albany. Now what's his?

Speaker 3:

last name again, it's Mr Murphy. Mr Murphy, noel Murphy.

Speaker 2:

And he came over years ago from Ireland.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, a long, long time ago, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

So what prompted Mr Murphy to do this?

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, the story has it, legend has it. You know, because Irish are all full of legend, god have led you.

Speaker 3:

He was actually a carpenter is my understanding. God, yeah. And then, all of a sudden, you know, people were wanting to go to Ireland. He has this beautiful accent Rogue, yes, he has a rogue. No, he has a rogue, he has a rogue. It's an accent, different accents. So he has this beautiful accent, you know, and people were just curious about his country and wanting to go to Ireland. He goes, you know what? I'm going to take you there. So that's how Celtic Tours was born.

Speaker 2:

So he started doing his own tours over to Ireland 1972. Wow, that's quite a few years ago and he's been in business ever since. Ever since 50, what 53 years now, so he?

Speaker 3:

started just doing Ireland yeah, just started doing Ireland and then just kind of grew. You know, I think one of the things about Celtic Tours is that we really, really pride ourselves in service and exceeding the expectations of all of our clients. When you call us, you don't get a phone animation, you get somebody who actually answers your phone, a person, a person that actually answers. And our team we're a very small, small team. We've got 25 of us and that includes me. Wow, in the field, I know. So we're very well trained. They make sure we're trained, we're knowledgeable and we feed off each other. So if one person doesn't know something're knowledgeable and we feed off each other. So if one person doesn't know something you know, they feed off each other.

Speaker 2:

So in other words, if somebody went somewhere in Ireland and you didn't, you can actually say, well, how is it? And get work in yeah absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

That's nice, so, but one of the nice things is you know when, when you get that live person on the phone right. That's during office hours, right, but what happens when you're over in Ireland and you get off the plane and you're looking for your transfer and you can't find it Right, what?

Speaker 1:

happens.

Speaker 3:

The first thing you're going to do is call Right. You're going to call your travel agent or you're going to call Celtic Tours right. One or the other One or the other One or the two, and it's three o'clock in the morning here. We're going to make sure that that's taken care of. We actually have a staff member who manages the 24-7 live emergency line, so if anything should happen while you are over there, we have somebody who manages that phone line outside of office hours and is one of our management staff, so we can make sure we take care of the situation immediately.

Speaker 2:

That's good to know, not only for people that are traveling and doing it themselves, but for travel advisors who have their clients call and say help, yeah, and the travel advisor can call and say this is what's going on and get somebody, and they don't have to sit on the phone for hours and hours and hours.

Speaker 3:

Right or leave a message and hope somebody will call back. I mean, how many times does that happen? You know, right, we're both in the prevalent, this is forever, and I know that happened to me, I know, so you have to do that Now.

Speaker 2:

It's still family owned and operated.

Speaker 3:

So so, after Mr Murphy, we have Kathy Ryder, which is his daughter. She is the president of the company. She is the president, so it is kind of taking over where he left off. Mr Murphy is 82 years young oh good for him, I know and he still comes to the office and is very much involved in the tours. He loves it, he loves it, he loves what he does, he loves his company and he's so proud of it. He loves it, he loves what he does, he loves his company and he's so proud of that.

Speaker 2:

Right and proud of us and he kept it nice. It's a nice size, a family size business, yeah, which is really nice. So there's not a lot of you. You know you get a hold of a person, which was really nice. Smell him when you're stuck somewhere and you don't know where and what, and you can get a hold of a person that makes you calm down a lot more. You don't panic.

Speaker 3:

And when you get a hold of a person who knows what they're doing and knows the situation and can help you get there Exactly, and that's a big thing that makes a huge difference.

Speaker 2:

But now Celtic tours started only with basically Ireland. Yeah, but it's now more than just that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we kind of have evolved over the years to offer all kinds of travel experiences that are tailored to every traveler seeking adventure or just, you know, wanting first time over there and not sure what to do, doing one of our escorted tours.

Speaker 2:

So we really, really have evolved and grown into not just Ireland but other locations as well, right, I mean because when you say Celtic tours, people automatically assume it's only Ireland, or maybe Ireland and Scotland, maybe Wales and England. Yeah, but Celtic tours is so much more than that.

Speaker 3:

Oh, my goodness, it is unbelievable what we do. Of course, you mentioned the United Kingdom Scotland, wales, northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom but there again, so much more. For those who've listened to some of our podcasts Italy, it's timeless, it's beautiful cities and it comes to all elegance. We talk just about Tuscany, but we do so much more. Wow, the Amalfi Coast, we can do. Rome we have a 10-day esported tour, rome round trip. Wow, I mean it. We just offer so much and that's, that's just.

Speaker 2:

Italy. So now it's almost to the point where when you say Celtic tours, it's not what can I get, but what don't you have what, what optimists?

Speaker 3:

Oh right, exactly, I mean we do Croatia, austria, austria and the Alpine splendors that we have there, and Hungary with the architectural gems that they had in Hungary I don't know if you've ever been to Hungary, it's just beautiful, the architecture, and we actually have tours that talk all about that. Right, germany, oh my goodness, you know the tradition Germany. Yes, the traditions in Germany and Neuschwanstein. You can actually go see Neuschwanstein, which? Is the castle, the beautiful castle.

Speaker 2:

Now, isn't that the castle that Demi always shows Disney?

Speaker 3:

World. Disney World Neuschwanstein, yeah. And then Poland and their city so many natural Disney World. Disney World, yeah. Nuss-van-stein, yeah, so. And then Poland and their city so many natural wonders in Poland. And then Spain we can do Spain as well. Can you do Portugal? We don't do Portugal yet. Yet I got a big word. Yet the big thing is we don't do it, right. I don't want to say we don't do it because we have done it. Oh, okay, we've done it for some of our luxury clients who want something special, right? So all we need to do is make a phone call and see if it can be done. We never, ever say never. Oh, on Celtic tours, we never say never, never say never, because you know, you never know, right, you never know, right, you never know. I just found out a couple of weeks ago that I can actually book France. Wow, I had no idea that I can actually book France. And you know, when you're saying Celtic tours, you're saying the whole package.

Speaker 2:

If they want to go to a certain location. Celtic tours covers their accommodations, probably breakfast All of our conversation I always hear breakfast is included the actual motor coaches that are involved, the tours, the actual tour locations that they might be going into. They get the tickets to go into some of these places in advance so you're not sitting on a big long line waiting, yeah, skipping the line. So these are all things that is good to know with Celtic tours.

Speaker 3:

And we don't just do escorted tours. Now keep that in mind. I mean, if you take a look at our escorted tours, all of these escorted tours that are predated, which is really really great. For those who don't want to think, right, it's just okay, they just pick one. Exactly, I want to go to the Christmas market, you know, pick one and go Right, so it makes it really really nice. But we have customized private tours as well Shuffler drives, where you can personalize your tour.

Speaker 2:

Now the private tours. How big can you go with that?

Speaker 3:

You know, two and a half twelve people is what I would recommend.

Speaker 2:

So twelve people, and then would they be like in one of those Mercedes Sprinter type. Yeah, hey, that's kind of nice, which also helps with, first of all, travel agents. They love to do groups, yeah, and that might be something nice that they can put together for some of their people. Yeah, or you and your family, I mean grandma, grandpa, the kids, mom and dad, aunt and uncle, everybody that wants to go visit can go, you know. And Celtic tours can provide this.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, multi-generational. I'm noticing a huge trend in the multi-generational travel, right. Who want to explore the heritage? Right? So let's say they want to go to Ireland and find out exactly where their family came from in Ireland, right? Maybe they still have family there. We can actually put that private tour together where they can use more of that and go visit those areas. That just sounds airy. So, just like you said, never say never.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, never say never. So if a travel advisor or a client, somebody that wants to go overseas and says, well, listen, I'm thinking of going to Italy, can Celtic Tours do this for me? And they give Celtic Tours a list of items that they want to see or touch base with and Celtic Tours does the research and says, yes, we can.

Speaker 3:

Yes, absolutely, and the more information you have the better. Okay, because it's your vacation, right? So you want to make sure that you're putting together your vacation. Now, if you have no idea Right On what you want to do, at least come to the table with something. Right and then we can help put the rest of it together for you, right? So you know dates are a date that you see. Make sure you have some type of date, right, because you know that's going to really and.

Speaker 2:

I always ask what's the date range? Because sometimes you can't get over on certain times. You know when it's too crowded or airfare or air flights that could be changing. So give a date range Correct and that lives that could be changing. So give a day grain to rats and that helps. That's very, very helpful, particularly if it's a certain occasion overseas Right. People don't know their holidays that might be in. You folks go to all over, like you said Germany, poland, croatia, italy. I'm missing a lot more because there's so much more there. It should be Celtic Tours Plus, I know, or 2.0. Is that how they do it? So I mean, there's a lot to do. Celtic Tours Dunst has based, like you just said. They can go right to the website and see what's available. Or if they want to take a piece of this and a piece of that, call Celtic Tourist and say can I mix this with that?

Speaker 3:

Yes, yes, absolutely Nice. And if they don't, let's say they don't want to do a private chauffeur drive because that could get a little pricey, right? I mean private drivers, you know, can be expensive. How many people are in a private chauffeur drive? Twelve, that's a maximum, that's a maximum. That's a maximum. That's a maximum. That's a maximum. Yeah, because it is a Mercedes Sprinter.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 3:

So you want to make sure and you've got. You need room for luggage, right, you know it's typically like a T-passenger, but you need to make room for that luggage as well. Right, we say about 12 people, about 12 people.

Speaker 2:

Now, when I hear private cars Driver, I think a town car with just me and my husband. You know me and my husband and my daughter and her husband a lot. So what is that called if it's just you know, you and your husband?

Speaker 3:

It's still called a chauffeur drop show, because she's going to chauffeur you around.

Speaker 2:

And they will take you to where you want to go, and pick you up in the morning to wherever.

Speaker 3:

Correct. Now, typically, what we'll do is we'll have an itinerary, right? So when you call us and you talk to us and you tell us what you want, we're going to put that itinerary together for you, with your accommodations as well, right? Whether it be a B&B, a passel stay, a resort stay or a hotel stay, you know, whatever it is that you want, we're going to go ahead and put that together for you in each location, because we want to make sure you have those accommodations ahead of time, right? So we put all of that together for you, along with what are you going to take for that day? Right? We don't want to. Just, you know you're going to get in the car with the driver and say, okay, take us someplace.

Speaker 2:

No we want to make sure that he has an. It's all planned out. So it's all planned out and you know where you're going in advance, which helps Right. And sometimes the drivers you know, like you've been telling me, there's like a little pit stop to learn about surprise their guests, which is kind of nice, very nice. Now there is a big push on for luxury travel there is. So what?

Speaker 3:

is Celtic Tours doing for that? Well, let me tell you, we have a huge luxury market. Again, we specialize in unforgettable journeys with the focus of quality, authenticity, personalized service, and if you have a client that is looking to design and elevate that experience, we can do that, because we can book those Casa stays, we can book those high-end resort stays. There's high-end golf trips with tea times. We can do rail packages or an independent journey. Again, just like we were talking about. They can do the rail and then they can do a park chauffeur or they can do park transfer.

Speaker 2:

So you can blend all this together. Blend all of it together and it can be luxury travel, because if they want to stay at high-end hotels and have high-end meals and things like that, celtic tourists can put all of this together for them.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, well, we would go ahead and look at five-star accommodations, as I mentioned, boutique manors and luxury estates. We would look at different cultural experience. They might want to look at artesian workshops or different heritage sites.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people like to stay in Cass A.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, this is their day. I mean, there's places like the Middleton Distillery which you can do a private event and go behind the scene. So I mean we can definitely elevate their experience and give them what they're looking for. I have a question for you.

Speaker 2:

I don't know if you know the answer, but I have a question for you. What if somebody wants to have a wedding event overseas and they have maybe 15 or 20 people and they want to do something like that, can they work with Celtic Tourists to put something together for them? Yes, yes and no, yes and no.

Speaker 3:

Okay, that's like never say never Exactly. So what we would do is we would go ahead and again dates have the date, we would contact the location, say, listen, we have a client who's interested in getting married and is this possible? Do you have those dates available for the wedding? Do you have those dates available for the hotel? There's going to be 15 people, so let's say seven rooms, Right. And then once we go ahead and get all of that together and get the pricey, they'll let us know exactly how much, depending on what kind of account, what they want for their wedding.

Speaker 2:

Right, do they?

Speaker 3:

want just a cake with just a ceremony. It depends on what they want, right, if they want meal or whatever, they would come back to us and say, okay, this is how much it's going to be. Now, if they decide they want to do something like that, right, we would put them in touch with the venue to make sure all the accommodations. I don't want to be responsible for anything going on, so we would put them in touch with the coordinator of the venue and then, at that point, right.

Speaker 2:

But everything would be booked and it would just be the coordination of the actual ceremonial things. Correct, correct. Okay, a lot of people like to get married in a castle. That's why everybody runs to Disney. But imagine getting married in a castle over in Germany, or over in Ireland or Scotland.

Speaker 3:

Wow, it's very, very, very popular, very popular, even in Italy, at the Villa Casa Grande. Oh yeah, they have a beautiful, beautiful venue there, and I actually just put a wedding trip together for a client. Oh wow, she was a very small wedding, so we had 12 people Right and they're going to get married here, but they're going to go to Relieve their Vows. There's no logistics and the legality of the marriage itself. So they're going to have a nice small little ceremony right there at the La Fusca.

Speaker 2:

Oh nice, really yeah.

Speaker 3:

Beautiful, beautiful venue.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's a beautiful venue. And again, we're talking Celtic tours family-owned and operated 1972, did you say 1972. Wow, okay, so they've been around since 1972.

Speaker 3:

They're insured and bonded, you told me, we are, we are, yes, we are licensed and bonded. Yeah, one shot.

Speaker 2:

That's great. People need to know that. And the other thing we need to know is what we already talked about is if something goes wrong and you're overseas at 3 o'clock in the morning, you can contact somebody at Celtic Tours and there's a person that will answer your call. I love that there's a phone that rings and there's a real live person at the other end, which is very rare these days.

Speaker 3:

It is. It really really is. And I think I mentioned in the past I was introduced to this company being a travel agent myself, Right, and just working with them as a travel agent. I fell in love with them and I wouldn't have booked anybody else with Ireland or United Kingdom, or actually Italy as well. Italy is what I was introduced to.

Speaker 2:

And you know we always talk Celtic tourism. Like I said, people always think they hear Celtic tourism, they think only Ireland or Scotland, but it covers a lot of Europe and a lot of different things that you can do in Europe. And now, like you said, we're getting into the luxury market. More and more people want to do private tours. You know they don't want to be with, you know, 30 people. They want to be just them and their little bit of family that might be there and they can go as high end as they want Absolutely Even some of the restaurants Z.

Speaker 3:

They have five two-star Michelin restaurants on the island, one in Dublin, chapter 1. And then they also have 16 one-star Michelin restaurants on the island, oh wow. So I mean, those are high ends. To have a Michelin star, that's a pretty high-end restaurant. So again, we can accommodate anything that they're looking for. They don't have to do one of our S4D tours.

Speaker 2:

Right, right, you know, if they just want to go and just be them. Now, a lot of people are solo travelers. How do Sculptors handle the solo traveler?

Speaker 3:

Well, we have so much to offer for solo travelers and, again, depending on what it is that they're looking for, right, we can accommodate them so many ways. You know, they have so much extra freedom because they're solo travelers, right Freedom.

Speaker 2:

And if they want to go out and discover things. They can either join a small group that we have, maybe a day tour that we have going on, and we can go ahead and make that happen.

Speaker 3:

They can do a rail journey from Dublin to Galway or to Belfast. Belfast is very close, so they can either be by themselves or they can go with the gang. Exactly, exactly. I mean there's so much that we can do. There's the retreat that they can do if they're interested in health retreats. There's so many of those in the villages, local markets, hiking, if they're you know. Oh, they're into hiking, or they're interested in surfing.

Speaker 2:

Now you say Vienna, so I'm assuming Switzerland is on the map for Celtic tours as well. It is, yeah, it is and it's not. It is and it's not. Now again, never say never. So if we have some avid skiers that want to go skiing in Switzerland, they would call and say can we do this? Can we do?

Speaker 3:

this yeah, exactly. Again, we don't like to say no, but we'll definitely say we can do it Right, depending on what the request is.

Speaker 2:

Right, because naturally you know if it's only one person going, right, you know that's a little bit different. But if they say you know it's a group of us, you know 10, 12, 20 people, then it might be more advantageous. Yeah, so looking at everything that Celtic Tours is doing is totally amazing. It's not just Celtic. So we think Celtic tours, like I said, celtic tours 2.0.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, instantly. And don't forget about the Liz Duvon matchmaking festival for the singles. Oh yeah, yeah, I don't want more. Past 70 times we've mentioned them. I mean, that is September 1st and September 30th the long festival, right, and who knows, they might even be somebody special and you can book that in advance.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you need to book that in advance? Yes, because it's already solid. Like I said, we're sitting here in the middle of summer here in Florida, we're sweating our keisters off. September is right around the corner. My yes is you're probably booking it for next year, 2026. Yes, you have all the certain things. Now what about Oktoberfest? We talked briefly when we were talking about the market. Can Celtic tourists do Oktoberfest tours? Well, no, we don't have anything put together, right?

Speaker 3:

If you want to customize something, we can definitely do that, very nice. Yeah, of course you know, go into the opera halls. That's not what anybody can do, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's available.

Speaker 3:

But that again, that would be something that I would recommend doing at least 10 months to a year in advance, Because the hotels in Germany and in Munich just books In München, In München, Because the hotels in Germany and in Munich just book so quickly In Munich. I remember that In Munich they just book so quickly. They do. It's such a popular time and you know that's typically the end of September.

Speaker 2:

I kind of chuckled a little bit because the history of it was based on a wedding. Yeah, but the wedding was in September, correct? That's when To have a festive start, right? Exactly so. These are some of the things that Celtic tourists can do for you, and now we have so much more to talk about, and our time is almost done for today. Can you believe how much we've talked about? There's so much.

Speaker 3:

I've got families to talk about. I've got couples to talk about. We have so much.

Speaker 2:

We want to be able to bring that along with the luxury end of it as well. So when you're thinking Celtic tours, don't think only Ireland. Yes, ireland is jam-packed with a lot of fun stuff. We talked about Halloween not too long ago and we talked about other things Scotland we talked about going to St Andrew's Golf Course so there's so much Celtic tourists can do for the average person. Yeah, you know. Now I'm going to reach out to some of the travel advisors that might be with us sitting right now. They should actually contact Celtic tourists if they have groups that they want to send overseas, because Celtic tourists will work very closely with a travel advisor.

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely Absolutely, and we again, we'll put together what you're finding once Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Kit. Well, diana, we're going to have to come back again this week now and we're going to have to talk about other in Ireland. We're going to have to talk about all the other places. We're going to talk about luxury. We're going to talk about couples, we're going to talk about the families. We have so much more to talk about.

Speaker 3:

So much more.

Speaker 2:

We just keep evolving and evolving, which is nice. And, like I said, mr Murphy yes, mr Murphy, he's on the helm and his daughter is right there with him. It's family owned and operated. Again, it's licensed and bonded. People need to know that. It's been around since 1972. People need to know that it's been around since 1972. People need to know that and they should know that there's a live person at the end of that phone call.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, a live friendly person, Friendly person At the end of that.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for joining me today and we'll be talking again. Wonderful Thanks, Z.

Speaker 1:

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Zee Michelson Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoyed our journey and found some new inspiration for your next adventure. Remember, the world is full of stories and sometimes all it takes is a plane ticket to start your own adventure. If you loved today's episode, be sure to tune in every week and don't forget to share your favorite travel moments with me on social media. I'd really love to hear about where you're headed to next. So, until next time, keep exploring, keep discovering and, as always, keep traveling with your heart wide open. I'm Zee Michelson and I'll see you on the next adventure.