Australia's 'Best Jobs' Winners Unveiled

SYDNEY, June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- An American finance graduate, a Brazilian travel photographer, an Irish internet entrepreneur, a French tourism graduate, an English film costume designer and a Canadian adventure tour guide have beaten off more than 330,000 competitors from 196 countries to be awarded Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World'.

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The global competition drew to a finale in Sydney today (Friday 21 June) with job offers made to:

• Andrew Smith (USA): Chief Funster (New South Wales)
• Roberto Seba (Brazil): Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne, Victoria)
• Allan Dixon (Ireland): Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory)
• Elisa Detrez (France): Park Ranger (Queensland)
• Rich Keam (England):  Taste Master (Western Australia)
• Greg Snell (Canada): Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia)

A seventh job was awarded by Virgin Australia to Cameron Ernst from the USA, who will fly the length and breadth of the country as the airline's new 'High Flyer', championing Australia's best customer service experiences.

The 18 finalists in Tourism Australia's global competition have spent the past week in Australia undertaking a series of adventure, nature-based, culinary, social media and photography challenges and assessments, as part of a rigorous final selection process.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the competition had been extremely tough, but that all of the finalists deserved great credit for their performances.

"I'd like to congratulate all of the 18 finalists for the tremendous enthusiasm and effort they have put into this competition. The successful candidates each demonstrated incredible talent, energy and desire throughout the application process and will, I'm sure, take these positive attributes into the job with them," Mr McEvoy said.

"I'd also like to thank the 330,000+ people from 196 countries around the world that expressed interest in our six dream jobs and encourage them to come Down Under on a working holiday or just for a visit to experience for themselves why there's nothing like Australia," he added.

Mr McEvoy said the real winner overall was the natural beauty and diversity of Australia which, thanks to the competition, had been showcased globally across nearly 200 countries across the world.

"Importantly, the youth campaign that sits underneath this 'Best Jobs' competition is already delivering results, with commercial partners like Virgin Australia and STA Travel reporting increased bookings and Tourism Australia seeing a significant spike in international interest in Australia's Working Holiday Maker program," he said.

The successful candidates are expected to commence their jobs between August and December 2013.

Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World' competition is part of a major international marketing push to promote tourism opportunities provided by Australia's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

In 2012, Working Holiday Makers contributed A$2.5 billion to the Australian economy, each spending on average in excess of A$13,000 during their stay.

A recent Tourism Australia survey completed by nearly 15,000 of the 330,000 people who entered the global competition has revealed 72% are planning to apply for an Australian working holiday visa and 39% seriously considering taking a working holiday within the next six months.

Since the competition was launched, Tourism Australia's working holiday maker Facebook page has more than trebled from 150,000 to close to 470,000 fans, with young people around the world actively seeking information about a working holiday in Australia.

The campaign is supported by Destination New South Wales, Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism Victoria, Tourism Western Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland and South Australian Tourism Commission.

In addition a number of key commercial partners are supporting the campaign, including Virgin Australia, STA Travel, Citibank, DELL, IKEA, Sony Music and Monster.com.

For vision and images of all the 18 finalists, including the six successful candidates, visit www.bestjobsintheworldmedia.com

For further information contact:

Leo Seaton, Tourism Australia
+61-447-463-197
[email protected]

Twitter: www.twitter.com/TourismAus

SOURCE Tourism Australia