Unique Crown Victoria offering free 15-minute rides around Toronto to share information about Newfoundland and Labrador

G7

By Lauren La Rose
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - It's about a 3,000-kilometre drive from Canada's largest city to the country's most eastern capital, but a step inside Melanie Mooney's ride will transport passengers within moments from Toronto to St. John's -- all from the comfort of the backseat.

Mooney is cruising the streets offering free 15-minute rides around the city core to Toronto residents and tourists alike in a customized Crown Victoria to discuss and share information about Newfoundland and Labrador.

The "Get Carried Away" vehicle -- which resembles a taxi -- is a marketing campaign on wheels for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism.

The white four-door vehicle, which features scenic photo snapshots of the province screened onto the trunk and hood of the car, is stocked with promotional material like guidebooks and maps of the province for passengers to peruse or take with them.

Passengers also have the option of viewing from a selection of brief videos on a touch-screen monitor, featuring everything from whale watching to folk-rock group Great Big Sea.

The vehicle runs on natural gas and Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism said it will buy carbon offsets to neutralize emissions for every kilometre driven.

Mooney, a resident of Mount Pearl, N.L., estimates she's logged thousands of kilometres ferrying passengers for short jaunts around Toronto over the past two weeks with tourists from as far away as Croatia and Mexico hopping in.

While people seem to be pretty enthusiastic about the unique promotion, she said there are others who have been a bit more wary.

"Some people have been skeptical and said no thanks," Mooney said. "There was one lady I had in the car and she was really confused and (during) the whole ride she just couldn't understand it. I think even when she got out she was still confused."

"But most people are pretty happy about it," she added. "Most people know somebody from Newfoundland, and if they haven't been they really want to go so it just puts that back into their brain again when they're thinking about their next holiday."

In addition to learning about the province, passengers also have a shot at paying the Rock a free visit.

Passengers fill out a ballot for a shot at round trip airfare for two to St. John's, courtesy of WestJet, four nights' accommodation and a five-day mid-size car rental with unlimited kilometres.

The three-week mobile promotion is slated to wrap up Friday.