Perth-ection on a Plate!

MasterChef Judges

Perth's booming culinary scene will again be celebrated to a national television audience with five episodes of Australia's popular TV show 'MasterChef' airing this week. Shot at spectacular locations around Australia's sunniest capital city, contestants and viewers will have the opportunity to experience a taste of Perth's vibrant foodie scene.

Matt Preston said of his time filming in Perth and surrounds, "anyone who followed my Twitter feed while we were in Perth would know that we ate widely and very well in this city that has blossomed with great cafes and bars in the last few years."

Executive Producer Margie Bashfield said, "MasterChef's Wild West week was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the delights of Perth and its surrounds. From the fabulous restaurant experiences in Perth's CBD and Crown Perth, the waters off Fremantle, the white sand of Cottesloe beach and the farming land west of York, we were blown away by the locations we visited and what they had to offer."

Tourism WA has actively sought out national high-profile television opportunities such as this as they are a great platform for raising awareness and intention to travel to a destination. Margaret River's Cape Lodge reported that after the 2011 series of MasterChef featured their property, they saw bookings double for the next six months and website visits increase 10 fold. To this day, they have guests visiting the restaurant because they had seen Tony Howell on the program.

Tourism Western Australia CEO Stephanie Buckland said the agency was pleased to have secured MasterChef again this year as it provided an excellent opportunity to highlight some of the State's extraordinary tourism experiences and landscapes to a significant audience.

"Our Public Relations team worked with the production company to secure filming of the program in multiple destinations around the wider Perth region. For the city centre in particular, which has undergone a vibrant transformation in recent years, the national exposure MasterChef will bring is very timely," Ms Buckland said.

"These types of TV shows provide the perfect vehicle to showcase WA's high quality food and wine, as well as its extraordinary holiday experiences, destinations and world-class events.

"We expect our investment in bringing MasterChef 2013 to WA will pay handsome dividends and help solidify our reputation as a recognised food and wine destination not to be missed.

"The timing of these WA episodes is excellent for promoting what the State has to offer especially in the lead up to the star studded Margaret River Gourmet Escape food and wine festival in November this year. We will be welcoming the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stein, Alex Atala, Sat Bains, Neil Perry and Matt Moran for what has quickly become one of Australia's premier food and wine events."

Tourism Western Australia has identified food and wine as a key offering to sell the State and this has been highlighted in Tourism Australia's Best Jobs in the World campaign. The recently appointed 'Taste Master' Rich Keam will be promoting Western Australia to the world as an international food and wine and holiday destination.

For six months, Rich will forage, eat and sip his way around Western Australia, while also enjoying some of the extraordinary destinations and experiences.

Locations where MasterChef was filmed:

Sunday 30 June (Episode 20) - Fishing trawler in Fremantle: westernaustralia.com/fremantle
Monday 1 July (Episode 21) - Bistro Guillaume, Crown Metropol: bistroguillaumeperth.com.au
Tuesday 2 July (Episode 22) - Cattle Drive near York: westernaustralia.com/york
Wednesday 3 July (Episode 23) - The Green House, Perth: greenhouseperth.com
Thursday 4 July (Ep 24 - MasterClass) - Cottesloe Beach: www.westernaustralia.com/cottesloe

You can find out more about food and wine events currently on offer around Western Australia this year by visiting westernaustralia.com/events.