3 April 2009
Students, media professionals, a receptionist, teacher, charity event manager and an actress are among the 15 potential island caretakers from 14 countries announced today as being on the final short-list for Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World.
Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor this morning telephoned the 15 across the globe - from Europe to North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia - to tell them to start packing for their journey to Hamilton Island in May for the final selection.
“The Best Job in the World campaign has had the world talking since its launch on January 11, and this is the moment the 50 short-listed candidates (announced on March 2) have been eagerly awaiting,” Mr Lawlor said.
“Tourism Queensland has spent the past few weeks watching in amazement at the lengths these candidates have gone to in their quest for The Best Job in the World.
“From organising stunts like scuba-diving in a tank in Amsterdam, dressing up as a mermaid in downtown Singapore and spruiking at a London pub to conducting hundreds of media interviews, the Top 50 have shown an incredible amount of ingenuity and passion.
“Within a week of being short-listed, Brisbane applicant Hailey Turner had even organised a 12 day round-the-world trip promoting herself and the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.”
Mr Lawlor said after assessing applicants on a range of activities, the Tourism Queensland team had found it impossible to narrow the list down to just 10.
“Tourism Queensland was faced with an outstanding field in the Top 50 and decided to extend the originally-planned Top 10 to Top 15 to ensure we get the best person for the Best Job,” he said.
“The Top 15 will join the previously-announced wild card candidate, Clare Wang from Taiwan on Hamilton Island in May for the final selection.
“The final short-listed applicants (listed below) come from 15 countries, range in age from 20 to 38, comprise 10 men and six women, and include students, journalists, TV presenters, photographers, a receptionist, radio DJ, teacher, charity event manager and an actress.”
Mr Lawlor said that with more than 34,000 applications, the Island Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef was arguably the most sought-after job in the world.
“The Tourism Queensland team have been in regular contact with the candidates throughout the process and both they and I are looking forward to meeting them in person,” he said.
“The worldwide response to Tourism Queensland’s Best Job in the World campaign has been nothing short of phenomenal and already we have achieved around $100 million worth of global publicity for Queensland.”
Mr Lawlor said the key now was for Tourism Queensland and the wider Queensland tourism industry to convert the global interest raised by The Best Job in the World into visitors to Queensland - to bring more tourist dollars into Queensland’s economy, protect existing tourism jobs and hopefully create new ones.
The campaign offers a unique ‘Island Caretaker’ role – an $AUD150,000 contract for six months beginning July 1.
The successful candidate will be based on Hamilton Island and will spend their time exploring the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef and reporting back on their experiences.
The Top 16 will fly to Hamilton Island on May 3 with the successful candidate announced on May 6.
The Top 16 are:
Anjaan RJ - India
Ben Henry - France
Ben Southall - UK
Cali Lewis - USA
Clare Wang - Taiwan (wild card applicant announced March 25)
Clarke Gayford – New Zealand
Erik Rolfsen - Canada
George Karellas - Ireland
Greg Reynen - Singapore
Hailey Turner - Australia
James Hill - Australia
Juweon Kim - Korea
Magali Heuberger - Netherlands
Mieko Kobayashi - Japan
Mirjam Novak - Germany
Yi Yao - China
For further information on the selection process, including biographies of the Top 16 visit www.islandreefjob.com.
