Newtownards man living the Australian dream in travel industry
By Sarah Curran
FROM the rugby pitch to the C-suite, Shane Barr has described how high performance and teamwork are necessary in both fields.
Growing up in Ballyblack, Shane Barr had his eyes set on the goal of following his rugby dream and although he chased his dream all the way to the other side of the world, he forged a new destiny in the travel industry.
Shane currently lives in Queensland, Australia, with his wife Tara and two daughters, Liric and Essie.
He recently stepped into the role of Global Chief Revenue Officer for TAG (The Appointment Group, Ltd), a global award-winning travel and event management company, which provides VIP travel to the likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and other huge stars.
The 44 year-old explained how he was able to spin his initial rugby dream to get to where he is today.
Shane will be known to many Ards Rugby fans, having captained the First XV in his youth in the position of openside flanker, as well as playing for Ulster Youth, before leaving for New Zealand to play rugby in 2003.
With a passion for the sport, Shane decided to leave school in Sixth Form at Regent House School, knowing that an academic life at university wasn’t for him and while his mother was in full support of his decision, she advised him to seek out a qualification before leaving the country.
“I thought to myself at the time ‘what else do I like doing?’ and so I decided to do a NVQ II in Castlereagh College in Belfast in Travel Services,” Shane explained, adding that he also worked part-time in a Bangor based travel agency called Reliable Travel.
With a qualification in his pocket, Shane moved to New Zealand to play rugby, with a plan of building on his rugby network and using his travel experience to sell trips to various World Cups and British Lions tours.
Yearning to get home after being away for two and a half years, Shane returned to Newtownards having played in Sydney for a stint, before getting the itch to move once again only six weeks later.
He moved to Dublin and worked for a prominent travel company called Cassidy Travel, which had a large sporting department, before jetting off once again to Australia in 2010 with his now wife, Tara, after the global financial crisis hit.
Shane explained: “I thought I’d go back and play one more season with the team I played for in Sydney.
“As that wrapped up I got more in the travel side of things and worked for a company called Moves Travel.”
Here Shane worked with a company that dealt heavily with providing travel for sporting bodies.
“As you find over here, if you are prepared to work you stand out and so, I got up quite quickly into management,” Shane continued.
It was here that Shane came into contact with the business he is with now, TAG, when he acted as an intermediary during a business deal.
While the deal didn’t go through, Shane was recruited by TAG in 2012, joining the company as a director and opening their Australian office.
“The doors were open on January 7, 2013, with three people in a shared office in Melbourne, looking at each other and asking ‘what do we do now?’,” Shane recalled.
“Fast forward, we just had our tenth birthday last year there and it has just been a whirlwind and hasn’t stopped.”
Shane has since opened offices in New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and one in every state in Australia.
“As of this year we have 97% of all live music in Australia transacted through us,” he continued, explaining that TAG dealt with travel for big name talents and their crew, organising their hotels, flights and vehicles.
He added that the company was targeted towards artists that needed global tours organised, with offices in the US and London also.
In his new role as Global Chief Revenue Officer for TAG, Shane will have overall responsibility for new sales, business development, account management and marketing for all regions for entertainment and corporate clients.
Looking back at how his dreams have changed and shaped, Shane said that while he was aware he was never going to be good enough to get to the top of a rugby career, it had been a great sport for creating networks and interlinking his fondness for travel.
He said: “There are so many things that are related between the two. Whether it is business or sport, it is about high performance and building a high performance team.
“Whether it is business or a rugby game, you are only as good as your weakest player. So you need to make sure the teamwork is there.”
Offering advice to those aspiring to reach their goals, Shane added: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you, you have reached the top. Someone said to me in rugby, if you aren’t doing that extra bit of training somebody else wants your position. So if you work hard enough, you don’t know where the ceiling is.”
Shane Barr (bottom row, fourth right) in his Ards Rugby days.
Former Ballyblack man Shane Barr has recently been appointed the role of Global Chief Revenue Officer for TAG.