Bernard started in the tourist industry in Ireland, where he was born. After university he worked in tourism development on the east coast of Ireland. He was sent to Paris in 1986 as group tourism manager. And later became the marketing manager for the French market. This work involved in promoting Ireland as a tourist destination to the French. It included identifying trade and press contacts, in order for them to « sell » Ireland. In many cases this included organising and accompanying travel agents and tourism press on familiarisation trips to Ireland. Contact with French airlines, etc., was also very important. As well as organising Ireland’s presence at exhibitions all over the country.
On some occasions Bernard would take part in radio or television programmes to talk about Ireland. The Irish Tourism Ministry in France won many award for our promotional work. For example, we were the first foreign country to advertise on French TV.
Around 1995, Bernard resigned to set up his own company in the French tourism IT domain, selling booking systems to tour operators.
In April & May 2018 Bernard came for the first time to Iran with family and some friends for a cultural visit. At the end of this trip, Bernard stayed to trek in the central desert with CARAVAN KOOCH Adventure Travel Company (AdventureIran.com). He was very surprised with how well this company was organized compared to the company who organized the cultural part, that at the end he said that if they wanted some help promoting their Iranian tours in France, he could help.
In October 2018, Caravan Kooch Co. contacted Bernard in France, and the partnership started. Since starting to work with Caravan Kooch, Bernard returned at their invitation to visit the Lut Desert, Sistan and Baluchestan Province in February 2019. This helped him to get to know another little known part of Iran. Then at ITB in Berlin in March, Bernard made a presentation to the international travel trade about this « new » part of Iran.
With the team in Caravan Kooch, a new idea was born, the Iranian « Coast to Coast ». The first project for this brand is a cycling tour from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea. Other ideas such as trekking are also possible. This is a brand to promote abroad and at in particular give another presentation at the 2020 ITB and also make a public presentation at the « Fair for Special Journeys » exhibition in Amsterdam in January 2020.