Wildcat Mackay could cancel day tours, no bookings available for 2025
After experiencing a “significant decline in interest” in day tours, an award-winning Mackay tour service is “re-evaluating its position” to see if there’s enough demand to be viable.
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A Great Barrier Reef snorkelling and island day tour service is on the rocks after 18 months of declining interest.
SeaLink Whitsundays is evaluating the future of the Wildcat day tour running from Mackay Harbour after just three years of operation.
First started in 2015 Asher Telford and his wife Julie, Red Cat Adventure grew into a tourism empire, operating tours to Whitehaven in the Whitsundays aboard their Thundercat watercraft.
The company’s value was halved overnight as a result of Covid-19 but recovered with the help of the Queensland government, expanded to run tours to the Mackay Islands in 2021.
With a $950,000 grant from Queensland Government’s Growing Tourism Infrastructure fund and support from Tourism Mackay, Wildcat was lauded as a signature tourism experience, taking tourists out to the Mackay Islands for snorkelling, paddleboarding and swimming.
The new boat was specially designed for the water between Mackay Harbour and the Islands and cost $1.5m to make.
The Telfords sold Red Cat Adventures and Whitsunday Jet Ski Tours to SeaLink Marine and Tourism in November 2023, promising it would be “business as usual”.
Three years on and the future of Wildcat is less than certain, with now Mr Telford describing a “significant decline in interest” for the Wildcat day tours over the past 18 months.
“As a commercial business, we regularly assess operations to align with customer demand and viability,” Mr Telford said.
Wildcat also runs sunset cruises, chartered tours and educational tours with Mackay schools.
“We greatly appreciate the Mackay community’s support in Wildcat’s journey,” Mr Telford said.
“While no final decision has been made, we are committed to considering all factors and thank our staff, customers, and suppliers for their ongoing support.”
Red Cat Adventures, at the time of writing, are not accepting any bookings for 2025 for their Wildcat day tours from Mackay.
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