WANTED: Caretaker for islands on Great Barrier Reef.
SALARY: A$150,000 (S$155,355) for six months.
JOB SCOPE: You scuba dive, snorkel, sail and go bush walking. Meet and talk to the locals and tourists. Give media interviews, post a weekly blog, photo diaries and video updates. Feed the fish, clean the pool and collect the mail.
TOURISM Queensland (TQ) is offering A$150,000 for a once-in-a-lifetime job to a lucky hunk or babe in search of a living.
Video: Best job in the world!
Sounds like it's too good to be true? There's more. You'll work flexi-hours and stay in a fully-furnished three-bedroom home with great views on the luxurious Hamilton Island of the Great Barrier Reef. The package includes return airfare, travel insurance and free use of a computer, digital video, digital camera and Internet access.
"This is the first time something of this style and magnitude has been undertaken by Tourism Queensland on a global level," says Mr Anthony Hayes, Tourism Queensland's chief executive officer, commenting on the A$1.7 million marketing campaign.
TQ hopes to "achieve cut through in what is an increasingly cluttered travel market", create greater awareness and excitement over the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef as a fantastic and unique tourism destination, and have a flow-on effect to other destinations in Queensland, he adds.
According to the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, tourism contributed A$8.8 billion to the Queensland economy, accounted for 4.5 per cent of the state's gross state product from July 2006 to June 2007 and added another A$5.6 billion indirectly to the economy.
Says Mr Hayes: "The Islands of the Great Barrier Reef is a special campaign in that its area of influence stretches from the Southern Great Barrier Reef just north of Brisbane more than 2,000 km up to the Coast to Cairns and beyond."
The world's largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef comprises 2,900 individual reefs and over 600 islands. In the waters there are whales, dolphins, sea turtles and more than 1,500 species of fish.
HOW TO APPLY
You must be adventurous, able to swim, love the outdoors, have good communication skills, and be at least 18 years old.
Create a video of at most 60 seconds in English to say why you're the best person for the job.
Visit www.islandreefjob.com, fill up and application form and upload your video for viewing from now to Feb 22. If you're one of 50 short-listed candidates, the public can vote for you from Mar 2 to 24.
Eleven candidates - 10 selected by Tourism Queensland and its partners and one Wild Card applicant who gets the most votes online - will be invited for an interview from May 3 to 6 on Hamilton Island, with travel and accommodation paid for.
The winner will be introduced on Hamilton Island on May 6 and start work on July 1.
This article was first published in The Straits Times 'The New Market' on Jan 12, 2009. It is produced by the Special Projects Unit, Marketing Division, SPH.
