❓ The Minister for Tourism responds to a question regarding the success of the 'Extraordinary Taxi Ride' tourism campaign, highlighting its positive impact, sponsor support, and media coverage, while also criticising the opposition's lack of support.
AnsweredQoN 289Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EXTRAORDINARY TAXI RIDE TOURISM CAMPAIGN
I was pleased to see that on 30 April the government’s Extraordinary Taxi Ride stopped by the City of Geraldton. I commend the minister for providing the state with such an impressive outside-the-square tourism strategy. I recently saw some of the extensive media coverage surrounding the Extraordinary Taxi Ride’s final leg when it wound up its journey in Broome. Can the minister update the house on the success so far of the campaign? Dr E. CONSTABLE
I was pleased to see that on 30 April the government’s Extraordinary Taxi Ride stopped by the City of Geraldton. I commend the minister for providing the state with such an impressive outside-the-square tourism strategy. I recently saw some of the extensive media coverage surrounding the Extraordinary Taxi Ride’s final leg when it wound up its journey in Broome. Can the minister update the house on the success so far of the campaign? Dr E. CONSTABLE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Geraldton for this question and for his great interest in the tourism industry, particularly in the area around Geraldton. I was fortunate enough to be in Broome on Sunday afternoon when the Extraordinary Taxi Ride came to a conclusion after nine weeks of travelling around the state and promoting our state. Members will recall that a few months ago we launched the new brand for the state, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia”. As part of operationalising that brand, the first marketing campaign was a very modern global marketing campaign for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride. It is the first time we have had such enormous support from not only traditional sponsors but also non-traditional sponsors like the RAC of Western Australia, McInerney Ford and others to support such a campaign. The total value of that support from sponsors and others was $1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia got on board, even if the Labor Party did not get on board. On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: I thank the member for Geraldton for this question and for his great interest in the tourism industry, particularly in the area around Geraldton. I was fortunate enough to be in Broome on Sunday afternoon when the Extraordinary Taxi Ride came to a conclusion after nine weeks of travelling around the state and promoting our state. Members will recall that a few months ago we launched the new brand for the state, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia”. As part of operationalising that brand, the first marketing campaign was a very modern global marketing campaign for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride. It is the first time we have had such enormous support from not only traditional sponsors but also non-traditional sponsors like the RAC of Western Australia, McInerney Ford and others to support such a campaign. The total value of that support from sponsors and others was $1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia got on board, even if the Labor Party did not get on board. On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
I thank the member for Geraldton for this question and for his great interest in the tourism industry, particularly in the area around Geraldton. I was fortunate enough to be in Broome on Sunday afternoon when the Extraordinary Taxi Ride came to a conclusion after nine weeks of travelling around the state and promoting our state. Members will recall that a few months ago we launched the new brand for the state, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia”. As part of operationalising that brand, the first marketing campaign was a very modern global marketing campaign for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride. It is the first time we have had such enormous support from not only traditional sponsors but also non-traditional sponsors like the RAC of Western Australia, McInerney Ford and others to support such a campaign. The total value of that support from sponsors and others was $1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia got on board, even if the Labor Party did not get on board. On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: I thank the member for Geraldton for this question and for his great interest in the tourism industry, particularly in the area around Geraldton. I was fortunate enough to be in Broome on Sunday afternoon when the Extraordinary Taxi Ride came to a conclusion after nine weeks of travelling around the state and promoting our state. Members will recall that a few months ago we launched the new brand for the state, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia”. As part of operationalising that brand, the first marketing campaign was a very modern global marketing campaign for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride. It is the first time we have had such enormous support from not only traditional sponsors but also non-traditional sponsors like the RAC of Western Australia, McInerney Ford and others to support such a campaign. The total value of that support from sponsors and others was $1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia got on board, even if the Labor Party did not get on board. On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
I thank the member for Geraldton for this question and for his great interest in the tourism industry, particularly in the area around Geraldton. I was fortunate enough to be in Broome on Sunday afternoon when the Extraordinary Taxi Ride came to a conclusion after nine weeks of travelling around the state and promoting our state. Members will recall that a few months ago we launched the new brand for the state, “Experience Extraordinary Western Australia”. As part of operationalising that brand, the first marketing campaign was a very modern global marketing campaign for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride. It is the first time we have had such enormous support from not only traditional sponsors but also non-traditional sponsors like the RAC of Western Australia, McInerney Ford and others to support such a campaign. The total value of that support from sponsors and others was $1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia got on board, even if the Labor Party did not get on board. On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
On Sunday afternoon, Doug Slater, the driver who had been selected by a popular vote, drove that car into Broome with his two passengers from the United Kingdom, and parked near the surf club. What a wonderful ambassador he was and will continue to be for Western Australia. His passengers from the United Kingdom were so excited about coming to Perth to be part of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride that they came several weeks ago and retraced a number of the legs of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride so that they could experience Western Australia even more fully than through the prize they had won. Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Mr E.S. Ripper interjected. Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : They thought the ride was extraordinary. There were 11 legs on this Extraordinary Taxi Ride, varying from four to seven-day itineraries. Those itineraries are being packaged and sold around the world. Some of the people who won parts of this Extraordinary Taxi Ride were from our major overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries, as well as people from around the state and New Zealand. Its success is self-evident. Already one of our partners in England has seen a 68 per cent increase in people purchasing tickets and packages to come to Western Australia compared with this time last year. Some of the indicators of the spin-off to the industry from this campaign are remarkable. The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
The government’s tourism agency is to market Western Australia, and this has been an innovative, modern global marketing campaign run, to a large extent, through the internet. During the nine weeks over which the campaign was run there were 160 000 hits on the website, and that equates to 15 000 hours spent by people on the internet following the taxi ride around Western Australia. I cannot think of a better way to market this great state. It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
It was so good on Sunday in Broome that I thought the Leader of the Opposition would like to see a photograph of what happened by Cable Beach. From this photograph members opposite can see the crowd that gathered. It was a fantastic end to the campaign. It was best summed up by Tony Barrass in an article in The Australian titled, “Hero cabbie drives tourism bonanza”. In that article he points out that the sceptics, such as members opposite, have been shown to be pretty foolish in the way they have responded to the campaign. It will be a tourism bonanza for Western Australia. It is a campaign that will continue into the future. It had fantastic coverage, especially from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Today Tonight programs and that coverage will continue in the weeks and months to come. There will be other campaigns to follow on from this one. We are here to market Western Australia and it is time members opposite got on board.
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