Wise Words Media presents a brief media profile on one of Australia’s most unique tour operators: Night Cat Tours, Sydney. It’s amazing what can be achieved with a limited budget, big ideas and the desire to make things happen. 

Although small in stature, Night Cat Tours is a giant when it comes to international and domestic media coverage.

"I've worked in small business in the tourism sector for 15 years and I know that the most cost-effective way to build clientele and a solid income stream is through word of mouth", says proprietor Stephen Arnerich.

Although Arnerich knew that wide and favourable media coverage could boost his profile, he knew little about working with the media.

"Even if I did, the demands of running a small business left little time to do it", said Arnerich.

Night Cat Tours commenced operations in 2003 and shortly after engaged Sean McIntyre, a media and communications consultant of Wise Words Media.

"One of my maxims in business is that laziness can equal efficiency", said Arnerich, "so I decided to bring in a skilled professional so that I could take care of the things that I was best at -- introducing tourists to Sydney at night".

With a limited budget, big ideas and the desire to make things happen, the two entrepreneurs set about making things happen.

Night Cat Tours quickly won an Australian Achiever Award in 2004 for Excellence in Customer Service. Wise Words Media matched the pace, achieving outstanding media coverage in Australia and overseas using savvy media and communications strategies.

The highlight of this was a featured appearance on the popular WIN TV travel show 'Destinations' in July 2005. Night Cat Tours have also featured in domestic and international print media achieving feature pictorial coverage in an edition of The Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania and other mainstream Australian press.

With the countdown to the Beijing Olympics, the NSW government is helping support NSW companies capture new business opportunities associated with the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games and other major sporting events throughout the world.

In terms of media coverage Night Cat Tours is way ahead of its competitors, especially in Asia.

Night Cat Tours featured in a high profile piece in The Oriental Express, Shanghai (an English language newspaper for ex-pats) in 2004. It has also appeared in other major Asian publications.

"Some of these achievements in media coverage for Night Cat Tours were due to our own media and communications strategies", says McIntyre. "However the encouragement and strong industry support provided by the crew at Tourism NSW has been no less critical to our initiatives".

On their invitation Night Cat Tours also attended the 2004 ATE held in Melbourne as their guest on an introductory famil tour.

"During this period we have also actively liaised with Tourism Australia and the Australian Tourism Commission to add depth to our industry network", says McIntyre. "Tapping into their specialist knowledge has exposed both Wise Words Media and Night Cat Tours to mentoring opportunities and industry know-how".

With its enviable track record in Asian media in a tough tourism sector, Wise Words Media believes that Night Cat Tours is well placed to take advantage of this and other exciting opportunities given that it:

• operates at night
• introduces domestic and international visitors to the city landscape in a unique way
• offers a highly unique and memorable experience
• enjoys strong, ongoing support from its state tourism office
• has achieved exceptional and high exposure in domestic and international mainstream media  

Further press releases from Wise Words Media related to Tourism as well as other sectors are available. Please contact Sean McIntyre on 0413 397 441 or sean.mcintyre at wisewords.com.au