Bus Wars

City tours, folks - hop on, hop off!

Please stop harassing these women!

Whenever I go home, all my family want me to do is to shut up.

I do apologise, I am trying to speak to you,

but this guy keeps interrupting.

There's a gold rush on the streets of Belfast.

That's our eighth bus that went out now - full, top and bottom.

Bring it on.

I could sell snow to the Eskimo,

sand to the Arabs

and fries to us boys. No problem.

My goodness, it's hard going today.

Lot of competition.

Last year, well over two million people visited Northern Ireland.

Well, I'm looking forward to seeing something about the Titanic.

Some wanted to see the sights.

-It's a very impressive city, isn't it?

-It's very impressive. Beautiful.

Some came to soak up the TV stardust.

That's the father's names.

And some were returning to a place they haven't seen in a lifetime.

Oh, my goodness, I am home, aren't I?

This is the inside story of a whole new industry -

bus tours in Northern Ireland.

THEY CHEER

From the tourists who go there...

I've been to some of the other wonders of the world.

It definitely ranks right up there.

It was fantastic.

..to the parts of the business that they don't get to see.

The way the tours are run in Belfast at the moment is, it's really a war.

I'll drop the price a wee bit, and then the other companies all go mad.

He just needs to rein it in a bit.

Welcome to Bus Wars.

MUSIC: National Express by The Divine Comedy

Northern Ireland's north coast.

This beautiful scenery now attracts tourists from all around the world.

# Take the National Express... #

And when they come here, somebody has to show them around.

# It'll make you smile... #

Did we eat all the biscuits?

Right, more biscuits. Back in a moment.

Benn Allen has been running bus tours in Northern Ireland

for nearly a decade.

What would you describe yourself as?

An entrepreneur.

That's a good way of putting it.

He works on a tight budget.

Probably costs about £400 for that. We've got them sitting to hand.

Probably cost us about £3.

He will go to a scrapyard

and come home with stuff that we would look at,

like normal people would look at, like they wasn't in the bus industry

and be like, "What is that? That's rubbish?"

We're looking for a manual six-beam Volvo gearbox.

That's automatic.

That's one of my old buses.

Just sitting, ready for the scrap!

This one got past us.

Oh, I see a cat's been living on it there for a while. See that?

To him, everything's valuable, and he finds a use for all,

like, wee smallest parts, you know?

But, yeah, he really loves his buses.

I don't know why, but he does!

Just, have you checked in, yeah?

Oh, yes, yes, you're going on the minibus. That's no problem, OK.

We've overbooked.

Some people have booked online, while we were asleep last night,

so when we came in this morning we've technically no room for them,

so I might have to put an extra vehicle on just to facilitate them.

'Although I'm using other vehicles,

'the vehicles I'm using are actually like the Rolls-Royce of coaches.

By the time they've sat on it for half an hour, they realise

this thing's not going to pack in or everything, they're grand.

Afternoon.

I've only got a few seats left, so I'm going to go down and fill them,

then you're going to fill up, and then Richard's going to take anything that's left.

'My mission is to be the biggest and best tour company in Belfast.'

By running it cheaper, by running it free, by doing a better service.

Whatever it takes along those lines.

Just go... See if you go into the hostel there across the road?

There's a wee office around on the right...

But Benn has serious competition.

What happened?

He was supposed to be on the other company that operates from across the road.

So he got on the wrong bus.

McComb's Luxury Coach Tours are amongst his arch-rivals.

Don't worry, I'm taking those ones out.

Benn has been at loggerheads with husband-and-wife team Caroline and Rodney McComb for years.

'The police had to be called quite a lot,

'and it was becoming a constant thorn in our side,

'the things that he done.'

It ended up, we had to take civil action against him.

We spent £30,000.

I have to say, it's been worth every penny.

Benn sees it differently.

Well, the reason we fell out was because I used to work for them

and then I set up in competition against them.

I felt that I could do things better than the way they were doing it.

McComb's have been in the coach tour business for 20 years.

They see themselves as the best of the best.

Everything for us is about quality.

It's just all about making everything

a bit higher-end, you know?

We've got a water dispenser here.

We've got a wee WC here.

We've got the wee fridges here, as well,

and, you know, we've got our branded McComb's water, as well.

I think this is as close to five-star as it gets, yeah?

Right up in front of us, the mountain stacks...

And this is why the tourists come -

the world-famous Causeway Coast.

Bus-tour heaven.

Ireland is beautiful, the Irish people are very pleasant, courteous,

and gentle. That is what I have liked about Ireland.

This summer, McComb's Luxury Coaches will once again battle it out

with Benn's budget bus tours.

25 minutes.

Behind the scenes, there'll be no mercy.

Back in the city, there's a different battle getting under way.

It's early summer,

and the ticket-sellers for open-top bus tours

are setting out their stall.

Expecting a very busy day, hopefully.

There's a cruise ship coming in,

there's, like, 3,000 passengers on it,

so it's going to be busy enough, and hopefully the sun comes out.

The Caribbean Princess is the first big cruise ship of the season

to dock in Belfast.

The boss of City Sightseeing Belfast, George Grimley,

is briefing his team.

The code of conduct that we adhere to, again, just a reminder -

good behaviour at all time.

You're here to give information as much as sell tickets as well.

So help the people...

City Sightseeing Tours is an international brand

that operates in cities across the world.

We have a fairly small window of opportunity

to make our money during the summer.

And business is booming.

Every summer, Belfast now welcomes

scores of cruise ships full of tourists with cash to spend.

We are a group of people from all over the world.

-Hi!

-Some of them from Boston,

some from LA, some from Santiago.

And then some from Taiwan, some from Brazil, some from Canada.

We have a group of 66.

The Causeway tour companies, including McComb's,

are on their way up the coast.

But plenty of tourists just want to see Belfast.

Can't wait to see Belfast and do some shopping.

Get some things there, yeah?

Yeah, she wants to spend my American money here!

Music to the ears of City Sightseeing's ticket sellers.

But, today, they won't have things all their own way.

There's a competitor in town.

Cruise ship's in. Happy days, job's easy!

We are sales representatives of Titanic & City Tour of Belfast.

There's that many people about, you don't have to ask them,

they tap you on the shoulder and say, "Where does the bus leave?"

So you're up and down, like there,

three guys walking down the street already, so happy days!

Owen makes me laugh every day I come into work.

I just like to see his big, chuckling face every morning!

This is the best job in the world, huh?

Do youse want to do a wee sightseeing tour, girls?

I'm not sure, can we have a map and have a look?

For tourists, telling the difference between the two companies

is almost impossible. Both wear red.

They're the same.

It's all one company.

Black's been tried, yellow's been tried, blue's been tried,

green's been tried. Doesn't work.

The only colour that is recognised around the world for bus tours is red.

'They own the City Sightseeing franchise -

'they don't own the colour red.'

Global monster, local company.

This one will take you to Stormont, that one to Belfast Castle.

-Terrible.

-But as I say, both leave from the exact same place.

Please stop harassing these women! You're on camera!

LAUGHTER

Sightseeing, guys? Hop on, hop off. City tour.

'We will be selling our tour, they will be selling their tour,

'and it's a lot of information for the tourists to take in.'

So, the tourists will be confused,

and sometimes they will walk away.

Other tourists will come,

we'll do the exact same and they have a laugh with you.

Because they like the arguing.

-Sightseeing tour.

-Hop on.

-Have youse tickets?

-No.

Have a wee read over that, madam.

-They're all the same, right?

-No, they're not the same.

If you wanted to do the bus tour,

I would give you a few pounds off it, so I would.

If you wanted to do it.

Owen prides himself on selling more tickets

than anyone else on the street,

whether it's the opposition or his own colleagues.

Also, we can get you a discount going into the Titanic museum.

I could sell snow to the Eskimo,

sand to the Arabs.

And fries to us boys. No problem.

Very good!

When the weather is good and the season's in,

the pressure's on you big time.

Yeah? Come with me, guys.

'You've got to keep your numbers up.

'You've got to keep going in the summertime.'

Because you have to build a nest egg for when winter comes.

-You do.

-Like a wee squirrel.

-Thanks very much.

-Hiding your nuts.

And this is what it's all about -

Belfast from the top of a bus.

Going up to the moon. OK, well done.

So, the Harry Potter building...

From here, it's over to the tour guides.

-First of all, I'll tell you, I'm 51.

-Wow.

-All right?

LAUGHTER

We didn't even get a photo.

Well, you see, you should have been quick.

-Encore, encore!

-All right, give me a second.

Get that leg up. Whoo!

Most visitors to Belfast come from other parts of the UK.

Zoe and Natasha are here

because they found last-minute cheap flights.

It's their first time in Northern Ireland.

I do want to learn about the culture.

I think it's so interesting.

I love the Irish people as well. They're so laid-back and chilled.

Then they've got that side to them

where you wouldn't mess with them as well. So, I like the...

Yeah, the Irish people are so cool.

And they just want to get a bevvy, so it's like...

That's what we're here for.

By the way, if you're wondering

what the H and the W means at the very top,

that means hello and welcome to Belfast.

It also means Harry and William.

Can you remember Harry and William? Who are they?

-BOTH:

-Princes.

-That's right. Well done.

-Yes!

-We're so smart.

So, many people believe that these two cranes are named after them two as well.

We were so the only ones that got that answer right.

Botanic Gardens and the University on the left.

An absolutely stunningly beautiful building...

Being a really good tour guide isn't as easy as it looks.

My name's Brian English.

I've been a tour guide now for about eight years.

-Need a map?

-We have a map.

You have a map? Are youse doing the Titanic Experience?

'I love the job. It's never felt like work to me. In fact, the very first week I did it'

it dawned on me that I was doing something I loved,

I was getting to talk about it,

'give, in many cases, my opinion or my take on it,

'and I was getting paid for it at the end of it.'

The easiest way to remember the Belfast accent

is they change their vowels.

The vowel O becomes the vowel A.

So stop is stap.

-Shop is shap.

-OK!

Mop is map. OK?

Whenever I go home, all my family want me to do is to shut up.

"Please, please, don't tell us anything about Belfast."

And the As become Es as well.

-So a flag is a fleg.

-Ah!

But we don't talk about flags.

An older crowd, they're usually interested in the history of Northern Ireland,

the history of Ireland, politics.

West Belfast, it's the Falls and the Shankill.

The names that they've heard of throughout their lives.

The trouble, the trouble zone or something like that?

Yeah, that's of interest to us.

That wall, we were talking about the wall.

The peace wall, the peace wall.

This wall would have started life

as a series of burned-out double-decker buses,

dividing Catholic and Protestant parts of streets.

'They've grown up with hearing about Northern Ireland on the news.

'They've never, ever thought of coming

'because it was too dangerous.'

Now they've got the opportunity and they're wanting to come.

You might be able to see, hanging off the lamp post, a "fleg".

Once we get past the traffic lights...

This is the Catholic, yeah, this is the...

They call it Republican Belfast.

Look at the fencing as well.

-This is the largest peace wall we have.

-It's like a prison.

It runs for nearly three miles.

I still dinnae understand why they're still all got the flags,

-kind of like hanging frae the lamp posts.

-Tradition.

Coming up on the left now

is a paramilitary mural where the gunmen are not wearing masks.

That usually means one thing -

the characters depicted on that mural are all already dead.

Zoe and Natasha are also getting a history lesson.

Check out the building on your left-hand side now.

It belongs to Queens University. It just recently opened.

-It's a brand-new building. And what's it made of?

-Glass.

Glass, there you go. What does that say about...

-There's no bombs.

-Very much, that's it, no more bombs.

And no more shooting on our streets.

Oh, he's so cute!

Belfast people are so nice.

I would say the people are so nice and friendly,

and the weather's been obviously amazing.

People are so helpful.

Except from that one guy that wouldn't let us on his bike,

but apart from him...

With plenty of tourists out and about today,

Benn Allen reckons it's a good time to hustle for business.

-All right?

-Benn, how are you?

-How's you?

-How's business?

-Great. How about you?

-I'm not doing too bad.

We're doing a cruise ship here, and I'm sorting it all out.

Benn's attitude towards running a company - he's smart in some ways,

but, in other ways, he just needs to rein it in a bit.

I'll take you over to the bus here now, if you want.

Come on ahead. Just follow me here.

Today, Benn is trying to lure tourists away

from the open-top bus companies

and onto his coach for a tour of the causeway.

Yeah, come on ahead.

And to do that, he has a secret weapon.

Welcome to Belfast. Welcome.

Meet Chi Wa.

Welcome to Belfast, folks. Where you guys from?

First impressions count, you know?

-The Giant's Causeway?

-Well, we're talking about maybe 20 yards.

20 yards, from here to the bus.

-20 hours?

-20 yards.

One yard, this size. Two yard, this size.

-HE SPEAKS IN CHINESE

-Sorry, I didn't catch your words.

Probably better with Chinese, no?

Are you more comfortable with English?

Chi Wa has been working for Benn Allen for nine years.

I first met him, believe it or not,

at an arcade machine establishment

about 20...

23 years ago.

How long have you been in Belfast?

-Born and bred in Newtownards, believe it or not.

-Really?

-In '76.

And then I moved to Belfast in '81.

-Yeah?

-And I've been here ever since.

Chi's a bit of a character.

He's very well-known across Northern Ireland.

He's almost a landmark.

OK, I'll see you in a minute.

-Keep an eye on the clock.

-Yeah.

-Time flies, OK?

He's a bit like Marmite, as well.

People seem to either love him or hate him.

There's no in-between.

But... Where's he gone?

Ah, no, he's still there.

If you give me the ten back, I'll give you four.

Four little coins.

-Four little coins?

-Four little gold coins, now.

Chi Wa has done his job.

Benn is off to the causeway with a full bus.

Just before we leave, has everybody got everybody with them?

Nobody's left their husband or their wife or anything like that behind?

No? Everybody here that wants to be here? Good, good.

Benn's biggest rivals, McComb's Luxury Coaches,

are already up on the coast with a bus-load of eager tourists.

Me, my mum, my brother, my grandparents, three generations,

we just want to see where we're from, I guess.

Our ancestry.

Megan and her family have travelled from Canada.

I'm mostly looking forward to all the scenery.

You see all the postcards and everything for Ireland

and I want to see that part of it.

I've been wanting to do this my whole life,

so it's great coming over.

It's been a dream of mine, and my brother's as well.

We've heard about all of the places.

My mum and dad cycling up to youth hostels all the time,

up to Giant's Causeway.

What is it, Dad? Portrush?

-It used to be a youth hostel.

-Yeah.

We can now actually put a place to all the stories.

We've heard about it, now it just feels like...

I feel like we've been here,

although we've never been here before, you know?

Jim hasn't seen the North Antrim coast in over 50 years.

And back in the city, Joan is also reliving her childhood.

She, too, left Northern Ireland a long time ago

for a new life in Canada.

I was eight years old when I went to Canada.

I've never been back until now,

and I'm 68 years old.

Long time!

She's here with her nieces to research their family history.

You kind of figure out, where do I come from, who am I,

what am I passing on to my kids?

-You've got to know what your background is.

-Yeah.

You want to know your heritage.

-I think that's important, too.

-Yeah.

We don't know our grandfather's family at all.

We have no idea yet.

We just have names.

-It's all the way to the...

-Look at the ceiling.

-All the way round.

-They're hoping some of the answers lie here,

in the records of this Belfast church.

What a beautiful church for it to be so old.

For Joan, this is a journey into her own distant past.

Getting off the plane, as soon as you hit the airport,

the guy took my passport,

he says, "Ach, hello, how are ye this morning?" I went...

SHE INHALES

That was that feeling that, "Oh, my goodness, I am home, aren't I?"

To hear the voice. It was unbelievable.

And here they are, the family records.

The marriage did take place here.

-1906?

-1906, December.

Yes, that's great.

Up on the coast, Benn and his coachload of tourists

have plenty to see.

There's a small tunnel. Through the tunnel.

OK, so it's one kilometre.

Yes, that's an Irish kilometre, so it feels like about six miles.

We thought it was awesome.

I've been to some of the other wonders of the world.

It definitely ranks right up there. It was fantastic.

A few miles away, Megan is getting ready for a challenge.

I have heard about the rope bridge.

I'm afraid of heights!

But I think I'm going to try to do it anyways.

I know my grandparents have both been across it multiple times.

So, if they can do it, I can do it.

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is suspended 100 feet above the sea.

I forgot I had to come back.

I forgot I had to come back!

Brendan, are you shaking it?

You aren't even shaking it.

SHE SHUDDERS AND LAUGHS

Wobbly.

Yes!

You made it.

Mum did better than I did.

Back in Belfast, Alfie and Owen are winding down for the day.

Time for a bit of fun.

No bicycles on the footpath, please.

Not on the footpath. We'll have to put your name in the book.

-£50 fine.

-Yes. Could I have your name, please?

I know you're not from this country, but the rule is no warnings.

We saw nothing...

Because we hide the signs.

We hide them, we don't let you see them, so we can book you.

So we can fine you then.

You are joking!

Oh, today was, my goodness, it was hard going today,

a lot of competition.

But it's all a learning experience.

I thank God we got a lovely day, which is half the battle, you know?

The Caribbean Princess is getting ready to leave port.

Today was fantastic.

It was beautiful. We finally got to see the country of Ireland.

All of our other stops, we just got to see the city

and we wanted to see the greenery.

Once you hit maybe 150 people on a cruise-ship day

you're starting to make money, anything after that's a profit.

And we've probably done maybe 250-300 people today,

which is a good day.

Everything went well. The customers seemed to be really, really happy,

and they're all safely back on their ship now,

probably sipping pina coladas or something like that by now.

And... Great.

For the tourist industry, it's been a good day.

I don't take it home. It stays in work, you know?

I go home, have a nice something to eat, have a nice beer... Lobster.

Lobster, crab, octopus -

I have it all, that's how I relax, you know.

Ah, God.

Oh, yeah, there's a cracker.

Benn won't rest until he's the bus king of Belfast.

The way the tours are run in Belfast at the moment is it's really a war.

I'll add a wee bit extra into a tour,

drop the price a wee bit and the other all companies all go mad.

You know, "Benn's destroying it for us all, you know,

"we could all be making a fortune here,

"but Benn's doing these things for half price. What's that all about?"

Just like to see plenty of people on the buses, you know,

enjoying themselves, getting a bargain.

Meanwhile, his old rivals

are throwing a party to make a big announcement.

Ach, that is gorgeous.

I'll put it up here.

We've got the people we wanted here.

We're just having a ball now, yeah.

We never stop scheming and planning.

I know, you're brilliant.

This is the key, this is the key.

We have actually committed to what is now going to be,

you'll see on the board here, Belfast Tour Centre.

We will be starting, from this Wednesday,

tours of Belfast three times a day, every day, so it is...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

But they're not the only ones with some exciting news.

Dennis, what have you got for me?

-You found three in total?

-No way!

-What?

-William...

-Yeah.

John Crooks Garrett, yes?

May the 30th, '09.

-'09!

-Oh, my God.

OK. And...

The pieces of the family puzzle are falling into place.

That's the father's names.

-The father here is James Breakey Garratt.

-OK.

We always thought his son was James Breakey.

Tanya has a new sense of where she's come from.

After this trip I feel more passionate about Northern Ireland,

and I feel passionate and loyal to that history, so... Yeah.

I'm pretty loyal to Belfast, because I never did change my status.

I'm still a British subject.

I never took out Canadian citizenship.

Even though I've been there since I was eight years old,

I'm still a British subject.

-So...

-Yeah.

-I love my country.

I love where I came from.

And I will keep it.

# Going to be a bright, sunshiney day... #

Last year, nearly 2.5 million people visited Northern Ireland.

Many of them took a bus tour.

I want to tell you just how fantastic this was.

-Oh, good.

-See you, I had a great time.

City tours? City tours today.

On the streets there were highs, lows and bitter rivalries,

but from the top of a tour bus it all looked peaceful.

See, I like Belfast because...

..it's nice and relaxed.

It's a cracking view from the right of the bus.

A cracking, cracking view.

-I'm not taking any picture.

-No, my hands are frozen.

-Working hard.

-Aye, working hard, what's this?

Some of the companies who have been fighting for the last ten years

have actually ended up doing something good,

by putting so much effort, individually,

in to looking after the tourists

that it's actually transpired into what we can see today.

We've definitely done something good.

And tomorrow they'll do it all again.

Right, is that it? Let's rock and roll.

-People'll be thinking I'm away to a bar.

-I know.

# Now, the pain is gone

# And all of the bad feelings have disappeared

# I can see clearly now the rain is gone

-# It's gonna be a bright

-Bright

# Sunshiney day. #