Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Singapore’s Passenger For The Extraordinary Taxi Ride In WA

33 year old Ms Ong Jing Yi, an insurance agent and mother of two, is Singapore’s passenger for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride in Western Australia – the first campaign to be launched under the State’s new tourism brand: Experience Extraordinary.

More than 300 entries were received in Singapore during an intense two-week long canvassing drive which spanned print, TV and online activities helmed by the Singapore office of Tourism Western Australia. In a ceremony held in Singapore tonight at the Shangri La Hotel attended by the travel trade and media, Ms Ong was presented with her award by Western Australia’s Tourism Minister Elizabeth Constable.

“I am delighted that Ms Ong will have the opportunity to experience the Coast and Nature Spectacular leg of the Extraordinary Taxi Ride,” Dr Constable said.

“Ms Ong will join driver Doug Slater who – who was the clear winner of the popular vote for WA’s favourite taxi driver – to enjoy the extraordinary coastline and natural beauty of the region. “She will also get to experience some extraordinary sites including the Pinnacles, Shell Beach, the dolphins of Monkey Mia and the marine life of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area.”

Launched last month for a short period in Singapore, the recruitment drive called the ‘Be the Passenger‘ has already received considerable coverage and significant interest within the country. The competition to select the passenger from Singapore for the Extraordinary Taxi Ride received over 300 entries in the Republic and the field was narrowed down to five finalists who include Juliet Teo, Genevieve Tan, Mag Wan and Daniel Chew.

Mother to 5-year old and 3-year old boys, Ms Ong will be accompanied by her brother Jason for the journey which starts from 29 April to 5 May. The Singaporean winner and her brother are one pair out of 11 couples from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Germany joining driver Doug Slater in the Extraordinary Taxi Ride commencing 9 April til 14 June 2010. Covering a total distance of more than 10,000 km across Australia’s largest State, the Extraordinary Taxi Ride is an epic nine week journey by taxi visiting extraordinary locations, many exclusive to Western Australia. Some of these include the Bungle Bungle Range in World Heritage Listed Purnululu National Park; Ningaloo Reef – the largest fringing reef in the world; and, Australia‟s whitest beach – Lucky Bay in Esperance.