How Red Cat Adventures have ‘Cat’ Apulated to success.

The last time Greater Whitsunday Alliance featured Red Cat Adventures; was profiling their innovative vessel, the Thundercat.

Almost two years later, a global pandemic, and a new Wildcat to the fleet, we spoke with Red Cat Adventures owner Asher Telford.

Asher shared his experiences from business evolution in COVID-19 to the importance of lifelong learning as the greatest adventure.

The world keeps spinning

When Covid-19 hit, Asher and Julie Telford didn’t wait for the storm to pass instead they got out their trusty whiteboards and started planning their road to recovery.

Our commitment to progress and innovation helped us make strategic decisions to diversify the business. For example, we installed windscreens in our boats and removed a quarter of the seats to install a luggage rack. This provided transport to the islands as a taxi service and allowed us to pitch to TV production companies for the water taxi contracts. That kept our staff working which was important during that time.”

Asher said you must be adaptive and innovative to survive the storms that many operators in the tourism industry face.

“The world is constantly changing, and anything can happen, as the global pandemic has proven to us' "In these situations, you need an adaptive mind. If you stick your head in the sand and continue doing what you've always done, you won't adapt quickly enough to survive."

Sail against the tide

One of the elements that make Red Cat Adventures stand out is not just their red boats but the innovation behind them.

Asher said the whole idea behind the Thundercat vessel was to make it fun, safe and comfortable. Other vessel designs can be a lot of fun but also a hard ride on a rough day.

“I wanted to design something between a ferry and a fast ride and mix the two together. I think we have created the perfect vessel.

Along with the innovation of their boats Red Cat Adventures were the first business in the region to become Climate Action Leaders through Eco-Tourism Australia.

The accreditation recognises high-quality nature-based tourism experiences with strong interpretation values, commitment to nature conservation and reinvestment into local communities.

You can read more on Red Cat Adventures in our first article here

Celebrate the wins.

The team of Red Cat Adventures have many Queensland and Australian Tourism awards sitting on their mantle, the most recent ones being double Gold for the third consecutive year in the ‘Adventure Tourism’ and ‘Major Tour and Transport Operator’ categories, also established Red Cat Adventures as ‘Hall of Famers’ in both classes, placing them among the ranks of Queensland’s tourism elite.

The team also won Gold in ‘Adventure Tourism’ then Silver in the ‘Major Tour and Transport Operator’ category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

But according to Asher, it’s important to celebrate the everyday wins in business.

"I'm really proud of how my wife, and I have taken our dream business concept and turned it into a reality. I'm still extremely in love with her even after working in the same office for over 11 years,' he joked.

"We disagree and bicker like brother and sister, but at the end of the day, we know we work well together and are a fantastic team. Her strengths are my weaknesses."

“At work, we surround ourselves with high achievers and employ incredible staff to help us through the tough times.”

Embrace learning curves

One of Asher’s most significant learning curves is that the cat is never in the bag.

Before Covid -19 they thought they were going to cruise through the next few years.

 “Julie had just completed a tour of Europe with Queensland on Tour Tourism Australia. We had a lot of new trade contracts lined up, but some of those people lost their jobs through COVID. The hard work, time and financial impact felt null and void, and the whole industry shut down suddenly.”

Asher said he has learnt to always be on his toes, especially when life and business can get bumpy.

 “A wise man said to me, always set aside, X amount of money per product, always be able to survive for three to six months, a big wet could come and anything could happen.

 “I think for a young person starting out in business, at that stage it was a really important lesson, because we did that, and we didn’t spend ‘willy -nilly’.

“Yes, we wanted to grow the business and yes, we did grow the business, we grew it responsibly and always had that money in the bank for a rainy day and Covid was that rainy day.” 

The importance of a pivot

If there was advice Asher could give those businesses starting out, it would be to keep their eyes open and seek new markets for their business.

“Don’t have all your eggs in one basket. It is a common thing to see people in town now, just wondering when the tourists will come back. You can’t wonder. You need to get out there and look for new projects, attend as many trade shows as you can, look for different ideas on how your business can make money.”

“Not everything you try will always work out, but the fails teach us.”

Education is part of the adventure 

Part of the continued success of Red Cat Adventures is they are embarking on Eco and Education Tourism to encourage ‘travel for good.”

Asher said their Immersive Learning Project is tailored to the school curriculum and offers interactive and fun experiences for all ages and group sizes, with research tours, indigenous experiences, maritime skilling and team-building opportunities, all options guests can now choose from.

“We’ve also established the Red Cat Reef search Project, positioning our staff as Great Barrier Reef ambassadors, and become the first and only marine tourism business in Australia accredited through the high standard Savannah Guides program, esteemed worldwide.

Asher said you never stop learning and their crew had strong marine knowledge, but they also want to continue to train and upskill their employees.

“We joined the Savannah Guides, who are professional tour guides, who have spent their whole lives as tour guides and are a wealth of knowledge. We are also part of the Master Reef guides program, so bringing that deep knowledge of the reef and coastal ecosystems provides a better experience for our guests. It also shows the staff that if they get bored of being on the water, being a professional tour guide in the tourism industry is an open-ended ticket.”