It’s been called monotonous and “a little dull”, but the 1200km drive from Perth to Exmouth is now being rebranded as better than Victoria’s Great Ocean Road and highlighted as a bucket-list item for visitors.

That’s according to tourism group Australia’s Coral Coast, which is behind a new campaign that reinvents the road from Perth to Exmouth — lined mostly by desert sand, scrub and termite hills — as the “Coral Coast Highway” and singles it out as a must-do attraction.

Underpinning the new campaign is a trial by Avis to slash its rental car rates, making it cheaper for visitors to drive one-way without a $1000 “relocation fee” to return the car.

Australia’s Coral Coast chief executive David O’Malley conceded the highway did not have the Great Ocean Road’s sweeping ocean views, but what it lacked in scenery it more than made up for with world-class stops.

“We’re really going to be pushing the Coral Coast Highway for the next few years to really get it established as rivalling the Great Ocean Road as a driving route, which it does,” he said.

“You could argue the Great Ocean Road is more scenic, but what’s different on the Coral Coast Highway is that you’re seeing world-class attractions like the Pinnacles, the Abrolhos Islands, Kalbarri National Park, the pink lake and World Heritage-listed places like Shark Bay and Ningaloo Reef. You’re going to see some amazing stuff.”

Even the stretches that West Australians might consider “dull” had appeal for international visitors, Mr O’Malley said.

Camera Icon Driving the Great Ocean Road in a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. Credit: Karl Pescott

“Some people might find driving Geraldton to Carnarvon a little dull, but then again the Germans, for example, absolutely love it,” he said.

“For Europeans, when they get into that red dirt, they’re in seventh heaven. They can’t get enough of it.”

Previously, Avis charged a $1000 relocation fee, on top of daily hire costs, to rent a car in Perth and drop it off in Exmouth, or vice versa.

But as part of a two-year trial between April and October under way now, the relocation fee has been cut to $150 from Exmouth to Perth or $250 from Perth to Exmouth.

If the trial is a success, the reduced relocation fee will become permanent. And it is understood other rental car companies are now considering following suit.

Mr O’Malley said the new rental car deals had sparked a surge in bookings.

Camera Icon Wildflowers in full bloom at Coalseam Conservation Park near Mingenew and Mullewa. Credit: The West Australian

“Particularly, we’re seeing a lot of new bookings from international visitors, because driving both ways is just too far for them,” he said.

Avis’ Pacific region managing director Tom Mooney said one-way fees have “long been a deterrent to travel between Perth and Exmouth, so the reduced costs have been warmly received by the local industry, global partners and customers”.

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said the Coral Coast Highway campaign was one part of a State-wide tourism initiative pushing WA as the “road trip State”.

The Exmouth price war has now extended to the roads and the skies, after Qantas announced it would trial discounted fares between Perth and Exmouth from $338 return during the peak winter season.

Mr Papalia said the new campaign, “coupled with reduced fares with Qantas and the Avis one-way drive offer, is making the Coral Coast more accessible and attractive for holiday-makers to discover”.

And he’s not the only one who thinks so.

Camera Icon Dolphins at Monkey Mia, located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. Credit: Tourism WA

The Coral Coast has three destinations — Monkey Mia, Exmouth and Carnarvon — in the top 10 holiday getaways being planned by Australians this winter, according to booking website Wotif.

But the State has been outranked by destinations in tropical Queensland and South-East Asia, which filled the top-five spots on Wotif’s “winter heat index”, the result of hours of data crunching by Wotif.

Carnarvon ranked sixth, followed by Cairns in Queensland, and then Monkey Mia in eighth, Exmouth in ninth, with Thailand’s Phuket rounding out the top 10.

“It’s no secret that when the temperature drops, Aussies seek out the sun and this winter, leading us to put together a definitive ranking of the best holiday destinations to chase the sun,” Wotif spokesman Chris Milligan said.

Carnarvon — with an average winter temperature of 22C, an average winter rainfall of just 1mm and average accommodation cost of $144 a night — earned its spot partly thanks to online accommodation searches jumping 50 per cent compared with last year, which Wotif put down to Hollywood stars Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon choosing to holiday there with their families in March.