Paul Harper is the Commercial Director at Daish’s Holidays, a family-owned coach holiday group, has been serving UK holidaymakers for over 45 years and operates 12 welcoming hotels in some of the best seaside spots across England and Wales, where he has worked for over ten years, joining in February 2015. Starting as Head of Sales and Marketing, he quickly rose to Sales and Marketing Director before being appointed to the board. His responsibilities expanded to include heading up the coaching operation, for which he obtained his transport manager’s qualification. Paul now oversees Daish’s Holidays’ tour operation, managing direct bookings, third-party partnerships, and group business, handling 500-600 groups annually. He also manages a fleet of 35 coaches, including drivers and compliance, and plays a significant role in the operational aspects of their hotels, focusing on brand and product delivery within the family-run business. I recently had the opportunity to chat to Paul to find out a bit more about him. Read on to gain some more insight!
What does your Monday morning routine look like?
My Mondays start pretty much the same way every week. It’ll be a review of the sales over the weekend, as we operate 24/7, and then looking at the tours for the next two to three weeks. I’ll be making sure we’ve got the required numbers on each tour and whether we need to change any coaches or departures. I’ll also catch up on the weekend’s hotel operations and look at the marketing team and sort out their challenges and targets for the week, focusing on which tours and areas we need to be pushing. Mondays are actually the only part of the week that stays regular and doesn’t tend to change from week to week, unless something out of the ordinary happened on the weekend!
If you could time travel and have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
I would probably go back to the Industrial Revolution and Brunel or someone like that. I think when you look back, life was pretty much the same for 400 years before the Industrial Revolution. That was kind of a big change, and now obviously we’re moving into the modern era of computing and AI. The other option would be to go back to the 60s and 70s and see Stirling Moss, the British race car driver, or Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentinian race car driver.
What are you currently reading?
I’m reading a Lee Child – Reacher book now. I’ve read a few and then they came out on Netflix and I realised there were a few that I hadn’t read. I like those kinds of books; it’s escapism. I also like Clive Cussler. Finding the time to read when I’m not on holiday is challenging as the kids keep me somewhat occupied!
Beach vacation, mountain getaway or city escape?
Beach location! I’ve always enjoyed diving and when I was younger I did a bit of surfing as well, so I would always say the beach. Having hiked up Mount Snowdon last year in the dark at 4 am for charity in -6 °C, I would say mountains are less endearing to me than the beach at the moment!
Name one thing on your bucket list that you still need to do.
Motorcycle down the Pacific Coast Highway in America. When I was younger I went from San Francisco down to LA, but that was more inland. I would love to do more of that, however if my wife reads this I should say ‘in a convertible car with my wife, rather than on a bike by myself’!
What’s your favourite way to unwind and de-stress?
Probably riding out on my bike through the New Forest or doing something with the kids like a cycle ride through the forest. Generally being outside. We’re really lucky. We live 5 minutes from the middle of the forest and 5 minutes from the beach.
Share a quote or motto that inspires you or by which you live your life.
I would probably say ‘Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.’ It’s important that you treat everybody fairly and honestly and respectfully, especially in the world of business. There’s nothing I would ask my team to do that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself, and I think that’s important from a management and leadership perspective. You’ve got to be willing to be out there in the front and do the same things that you’re asking everybody else to do.
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and why?
I think I’d probably go for flight. I think that would be pretty cool.
What job is the favourite you’ve ever had and what made it so special?
I used to work as a cook at Paultons Park, the theme park. I started when I was 16 working in the wash-up and then got promoted and did a bit of cooking. It was always through the summer holidays and between college. We used to serve the customers, but also had a counter at the back for the staff. It was great because you got to speak to everybody every day. That was before Peppa Pig World and the massive thing that it is today. It was very much a family holiday park and we used to do some good functions and corporate functions like barbecues and that kind of thing. It was a great atmosphere. The people I worked with were all really good. It was my first taste of the hospitality sector and to a certain degree I still miss being on the front line in our hotels!
If you were to write a book, what genre would it be?
I think it would definitely be an adventure book.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
‘You can learn from everybody’. You need to learn good habits from the managers that inspire you and pick up on the bad habits that you need to avoid from those that are less inspiring. So, learning from the good and the bad!
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
When I was a bit younger I did a lot of travelling and I’ve been very lucky with the companies that I worked for and the way things panned out that I was able to do a fair amount of travelling for work too. I toured South America – Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Peru – but I’d probably put skydiving in New Zealand at the top of my list!
What is your favourite food/drink?
I would say pizza is still my favourite food! You can’t really beat it. I’m a fan of a classic pepperoni pizza but this time of the year, as summer comes, any kind of cider is always a good thing as well.
What would you do if you weren’t in the Hospitality industry?
Probably something in the motorsport or transport industry. My wife and I have been married for 12 years and we complement each other very well because she’s very much in touch with the human side of things. I’m very much into machines – anything with an engine that’s fast enough to do something stupid in is probably my kind of bag, to be honest.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Guinea pig and alpaca in South America. There’s not really a lot of meat on a guinea pig. It’s not really worth it, to be honest. It’s a local delicacy in South America that’s not going to be taking off anywhere else…
What do you want to let us know about work-wise?
I think that despite all the challenges that we face as a business, whether it’s tariffs from our friends over in the USA or the cost of National Insurance, we are still committed to investing in moving forward, and we have some exciting plans for the next 12 months with hotel refurbishments. Weston-Super-Mare in particular is going to be a stand-out development for the whole town. It’s close to the Winter Gardens, right by the pier at the seafront. Location-wise it’s absolutely stunning, so I think that will be the big one for this coming winter!
You can contact Paul through LinkedIn and find out more about Daish’s Holidays HERE.
