By Michael Baginski/ A day of celebrating with industry was hardly enough to contain 25th anniversary celebrations for RIT Royal Irish Tours and the company’s affable founder Ian Duffy, who started the suburban Toronto-based tour operator in the tumultuous days after 9/11, but nevertheless saw the business thrive and grow, and is now looking to the next a quarter century with a second generation of Duffys in the fold.
RIT celebrated its combined legacy and future together on a road show through three Ontario cities (London, Hamilton and Oshawa) early this month, with a dozen Irish supplier partners in tow no less, marking the company milestone with a requisite dollop of business and collaboration – at least until the Guinness started pouring at Noonan’s Pub on the Danforth last Thursday.
A lunch for industry trade partners and media featured oyster shucking and Irish coffee making presentations, a step dancing performance, and, of course, music – all setting a foundation for a lively afternoon of Irish craic… which later turned into an evening of fun at the pub, as more old and new friends dropped by to continue the festivities.
“I started travel in 1975, so technically I’m celebrating 50 years in travel,” Duffy told the packed audience, explaining that he left school in Dublin and went directly to a job in travel, – “and now here I am today 50 years later still doing the same thing.”
(Also, technically, 2026 is RIT’s silver anniversary year).
Duffy recalled that Royal Irish released its first brochure in 2022 and embarked on a “fairly optimistic” program of 15 coach tour departures across Ireland, of which 12 were successfully completed. Fast forward to 2026, and RIT will have over 250 departures.
“So, quite the difference in 25 years, and we’re delighted with that,” he mused.
At the same time, Duffy hailed the help he has received over the many years, stating, “We’ve had an incredible village of people and partners to help us make all this possible.”
He singled out the company’s “great staff” (including key figures Jonathan Sargeant and John Fallon) as well as all of RIT’s travel trade partners, including “all the travel agencies across Canada, who took us into their hearts from day one – they were monumental in our success.”
Duffy reserved a special shout-out for his wife Patricia who, though mostly behind the scenes, did “a bit of everything over the years, including sales calls, brochure development, trade shows, and any odd job that needed to be done, whilst raising our four children.”
He further added, unsurprisingly, that Tourism Ireland has consistently been a great supporter, as well as Visit Britain, Visit Scotland, and Visit Wales – the latter illustrating the growth of RIT over the years beyond its original Irish roots.
Further demonstrating that growth, Duffy observed that the company opened a second office in Dublin in 2016, now headed by son Ronan.
In Richmond Hill, the rest of the second-generation Duffy clan – Conor (VP), Sinead (res manager) and Lorcan (“financial whiz”) – are all instrumental in the company, with Duffy offering “a great thank you for all they have done for the company.”
And as senior Duffy begins to take his foot of the gas a little and concentrate on being a grandfather, he offered that he hopes they will “secure the future of the company for the next 25 years.”
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