Vote for your favourite Taxi Driver – www.extraordinarytaxiride.com

Western Australia’s incredible array of extraordinary travel experiences will be showcased to the world as part of its new brand position and innovative marketing campaign, launched today by Tourism Western Australia (Tourism WA).

Experience Extraordinary – the new brand positioning – highlights all that is unique about Western Australia including many natural wonders exclusive to the State such as the Bungle Bungle Range in World Heritage Listed Purnululu National Park; the Horizontal Waterfalls in the Kimberley; Ningaloo Reef – the largest fringing reef in the world; and, WA’s wildflower season, which features the largest collection of wildflowers on Earth.

The Extraordinary will be brought to life for travellers with an epic journey, the likes of which has never been seen before – The Extraordinary Taxi Ride. Over nine weeks, 22 lucky people from Australia and around the world will explore WA in a taxi. The journey itself is broken into 11 ‘legs’ that are easily achievable but cover the entire State.

“We wanted to showcase our amazing natural wonders, fantastic people and extraordinary offerings to Australians, and to the world, in a truly unique fashion,” Tourism WA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Stephanie Buckland, said.

“Our extensive research tells us that our target consumers don’t know what there is to do and see in WA, which is a barrier to travel. They are not aware of the unique experiences on offer here, experiences which can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

“We want people to know that for an extraordinary holiday, you need to come to an extraordinary place – in short, this is what led us to the creation of Experience Extraordinary as our new brand, and in turn, the Extraordinary Taxi Ride.”

Tourism Western Australia has scoured the State to find Western Australia’s five most extraordinary taxi drivers. The ‘chosen one’, as voted by the public, will be a true local character who will showcase some of WA’s most loved and extraordinary locations.

“We wanted a driver who could tell a good story, share a joke with passengers, play up for the cameras, and importantly, a driver who is passionate about WA,” Ms Buckland continued.

“Our five finalists are from diverse backgrounds, and the public will vote for their favourite driver, who will head off on this amazing journey in April.

“The driver’s passengers will be decided by an online competition – with consumers from around the world invited to enter what is set to be the holiday of a lifetime.

“Among the journey’s stops will be stunning beaches, tall-timber forests, premium wineries and the world’s only horizontal waterfalls – and that’s just the beginning. There’s a swim with the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, a sunset camel ride on Broome’s iconic Cable Beach and a visit to the world’s oldest rock gorges – it’ll be a unique holiday adventure.”

The personal stories of all involved will be captured on film and the story of the journey will be told online, in press, on radio, outdoors and on TV.

Surrounding this content will be travel packages enabling consumers to book an extraordinary experience. The content collected along the journey will then form the basis of an ongoing campaign.

As part of the campaign, Tourism WA partnered with the Taxi Council of WA and the Department of Transport to recruit a taxi driver to embark on the journey. More than 10 per cent of the State’s taxi industry applied for the chance of a lifetime, with five finalists selected.

“Taxi drivers are an important part of the State’s tourism industry – they’re often the first point of contact for our visitors, and taxis are a universal image,” Ms Buckland said.

Voting for the taxi drivers is now open at www.extraordinarytaxiride.com and closes March 11 2010.

Potential passengers will need to demonstrate why they should be part of the journey, with the competition opening on March 1, until March 26 2010. More details on passenger recruitment will be provided in the coming weeks.

To find out more and to follow the Extraordinary Taxi Ride on its epic journey, visit www.extraordinarytaxiride.com.

To discover more extraordinary experiences go to www.westernaustralia.com