Sydney premier private tour specialist Runaway Tours has started celebrating a significant milestone, raising 20 years of delivering touring experiences to international visitors.
Established in July 2006, Runaway Tours has spent two decades helping guests discover the very best of Sydney and New South Wales. From iconic landmarks and spectacular coastlines to hidden local gems, the company has built a reputation for exceptional service, luxury transportation, and memorable experiences.
Offering private and charter tours only and with a fleet of premium vehicles and a team of 12 professional tour guides, Runaway Tours caters to travellers who appreciate a little extra comfort and who prefer someone else to worry about directions, parking and whether that ‘shortcut’ is actually a shortcut.
Over the years, Runaway Tours has welcomed thousands of guests, including luxury leisure travellers, corporate executives, VIP visitors and families looking for an experience that is equal parts informative, enjoyable and stress-free.
“We’ve spent the last 20 years helping people escape their daily routine, without actually having to run away,” Runaway Tours director and operations manager Steve Arnerich says.
“Our guests prefer the personalised service we offer and to move away from some of the bigger group tour offerings, especially post-COVID.”
Arnerich’s first incarnation was as a tour guide in 1996, doing three-day camping trips to the Blue Mountains with predominately British backpackers. He opened his first venture as Night Cat Tours in 2003, showing tourists Sydney by Night with a tasty Tiger Pie from
Harry’s Café de Wheels and culminating with a drink at the Opera Bar. Focus turned towards the burgeoning Italian and Spanish inbound market and Runaway Tours was born in July 2006.
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“I then discovered there were multiple local guides who spoke Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese, so we evolved into a foreign language specialist tour company,” Arnerich says.
A major turning point for Runaway Tours came in 2013 when tours manager Mandy Stewart joined the team and helped shift the focus away from the foreign language tours and expanded into Sydney’s growing cruise ship market. This has now established Runaway Tours as a trusted provider of shore excursions, pre- and post-cruise touring.
Known for her lightning-fast responses, Stewart ensures enquiries, quotes and bookings are handled quickly and professionally, giving guests confidence from their very first interaction with Runaway Tours.
“Travel should be exciting from the moment a guest starts planning their trip,” Stewart says.
“Whether someone is arriving on a cruise ship for a day in Sydney or booking a once in a lifetime Australian adventure, great service starts with listening, responding quickly and making the whole experience easy and enjoyable.”
Whether it’s a private Sydney city tour, a scenic South Coast adventure, a Hunter Valley wine country excursion, a Port Stephens Dolphin cruise or a trip to the stunning Blue Mountains, Runaway Tours is committed to delivering an experience that exceeds expectations.
As it enters its third decade of operation, Runaway Tours remains focused on innovation, excellence and ensuring every guest enjoys a journey worth talking about long after the tour ends. Its main success lies with its incredible stable of tour guides.
“I find that most guides are generally nerds and love to impart their huge range of knowledge about this amazing country to our usually well-travelled clientele,” Arnerich says.
“Being an ambassador for Australia is an honour and privilege and our guides are only too eager to spread the Aussie love!”
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