The team at Red Cat Adventures are proving worth their weight in gold, taking out not one, but two of the top gongs at the 2019 Queensland Tourism Awards.
Following their success at the Whitsunday Tourism Awards, the company was awarded Gold in the Adventure Tourism and Major Tour and Transport Operators categories at a state-wide level.
This was the second consecutive year the business has received double gold, making ‘Top Cats’ Julie and Asher Telford and their tribe of 30 staff incredibly proud.
“For me it’s validation of what we do – that we didn’t just have one good year – we’ve actually built a solid, long-term business giving customers experiences of a lifetime,” Asher said.
For the first time in their now glittering trophy-winning history, the couple couldn’t be together on the awards night.
Asher travelled to the event on the Sunshine Coast with Red Cat Adventures Sales and Marketing Manager, Chris Leverington, while Julie was in Europe with the Tourism Australia and Tourism and Events Queensland initiatives, ‘Australia on Tour’ and ‘Queensland on Tour’.
“We’ve built this business from scratch side by side, and I wished my wife was with me on the night, but she was making that sacrifice to promote Australian tourism and the Whitsundays in Europe, and like all the sacrifices we make, we do it because we’re passionate about the region we champion and the products we’ve created,” Asher said.
For Julie, watching the results unfold on a live stream from Munich, there were tears of joy when the wins were announced.
“Tourism is not an easy business, but we go above and beyond, every single day of the week, and our crew should be proud that their hard work, passion, and professionalism is being recognised through these awards,” she said.
Popular to the point that there are guests who have chosen to tattoo the company logo on their bodies for life, Red Cat Adventures tours offer varying levels of adventure to suit every taste.
Guests can sleep under the stars on the deck of the sailing catamaran ‘Tongarra’ or whiz around the Whitsundays on a high powered ‘Thundercat’.
They can join a ‘Ride to Paradise’ and spend the night at the boutique Paradise Cove Resort, or enjoy an afternoon of live music at one of the hugely successful ‘Sessions in Paradise’.
Thanks to partnerships with complementary businesses such as Prosail Whitsundays, Whitsunday Jetski Tours, Air Whitsundays, and Pioneer Adventures Whitsundays, they can even fly, jetski, and ride glass bottom boats.
The company’s vessels are state-of-the-art, with the sailing catamaran ‘Tongarra’ achieving carbon neutral status.
The Telfords intend to make the entire business carbon neutral by 2022 and have already been recognised as Climate Action Leaders.
The company received the 2019 Australian Enterprise Award for Most Innovative Charter Boat Business – Queensland, and won Gold for Major Tour and Transport Operators at last year’s Australian Tourism Awards.
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