We at City Sightseeing Dublin would like to introduce you to Thiago – a key member of the team. And the first person to put his name forward for the Meet the Team Q&A we will now be rolling out over the next couple of weeks.
Anyway, we’ll stop talking and let him take over and tell you a little bit more about himself and what it is like to work for City Sightseeing Dublin.
Q. Where are you from?
I’m from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and I am currently living in Eastwall Dublin 3. I’ve been living in Ireland since January 30th, 2017 – 1 year three months and two weeks.
Q. What’s my favourite thing about living in Ireland?
That’s a difficult question. Well, I love the security of the country. I love the culture, especially Celtic dancing. I like that I can both improve both my English in Ireland and also gain experience and upskill while living in Ireland. However, I don’t particularly like the weather.
Q. Do you have any hobbies?
I have a lot of hobbies, watching ‘futebol’ games, playing table tennis, listening to music and learning new languages. I support my local team Fluminense FC (in Brazil).
I too enjoy listening to music, I have an eclectic taste in music, but my favourite genre is Pagode, it’s a Brazilian style of music that originated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a subgenre of Samba. My favourite group is Exaltasamba, but like I said I have an eclectic taste, you might find me listening to Iron Maiden. I also love throwback tunes, George Benson and Lionel Richie.
I speak four languages, and I enjoy learning new ones. I speak Portuguese, Spanish, English and I took a course in French – but I don’t get the opportunities to practice as much. Those are my main hobbies.
Q. Do you have any pets?
I have pets back home in Brazil, but not in Ireland. I have a dog named Mickey Mouse and a bird named Mengo. I got the dog around five years ago and the bird around seven years ago. The name of the bird comes from nicknames of the two big rival teams in Brazil, Flamengo and Fluminense. Initially, there were three birds’ Fla, Flu and Mengo. My wife who loves Disney chose the name of the dog.
Q. What Do you love about working with City Sightseeing Dublin?
I started as a shop promoter last year 20th April. I am still a shop promoter, but now I also cover some of the shop staff – shifts, breaks etc. I love the new found responsibility. In the shop, I can improve my language skills with all the different tourists – French speakers, Spanish speakers and English speakers.
Back in Brazil, I worked in tourism. I’ve always worked in tourism because I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Tourism. I worked as a travel agent manager. While in Brazil I worked for major sporting events such as the World Military Cup in 2011, Confederations Cup in 2013, World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games. I am also an international tour guide which I specialised in Dubai.
What I most love about working with the company is that I can improve all my spoken languages and I also pick up a few words here and there from other languages. I like the fact that I am working in the industry which I studied. Overall, I love the team, and everybody is friendly with the company. There is support from all across the company.
My favourite part of the job is helping customers realise their dream.
Q. What is the biggest challenge of your job?
The biggest challenge of the job is communicating with customers who don’t understand the languages I speak and vice versa, and all the different accents you encounter. It can become challenging when I try to give information about the tours when there is a language barrier.
Q. Anything else you would like to say?
I hope to have a long career with the company, and next time you are visiting Dublin or the City Sightseeing Store, be sure to say hello!
As you all know, Trip Advisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards were revealed on Wednesday of this week, and we at City Sightseeing Dublin are delighted to be listed among Ireland’s Top 10 Travel Experiences, making it in at number 5!
