Two U.S Candidates Win "Best Jobs in the World" In Australia

SYDNEY, June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tourism Australia announced the six 'Best Jobs in the World' winners in Sydney today with Andrew Smith from Southern California being appointed the "Chief Funster" of New South Wales (NSW) and Cameron Ernst from Texas chosen to become a "High Flyer" for Virgin Australia.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130423/LA00439LOGO)

Smith and Ernst, both candidates for the "Chief Funster" position, competed against Boston native Brittany MacLeod this week in Australia in a series of challenges around the city, from playing with dolphins and cruising around the harbor to training with the Sydney Swans AFL team.

Ernst was awarded a seventh 'Best Job' by Virgin Australia. He will fly the length and breadth of the country as the airline's new "High Flyer," championing Australia's best customer service experiences.

Americans showed a significant interest in this campaign, filing applications for every job available and leading the competition in expressions of interest. Six of the 18 finalists competing in the last stage of the 'Best Jobs' competition were from the USA including Rebecca Morris for "Taste Master," Nick Tilley for "Wildlife Caretaker," and Graham Freeman for "Outback Adventurer."

"The level of competition coming out of America was extremely impressive, and Andrew brings fantastic personality and social experience to the 'Chief Funster' role," said Tourism Australia Vice President for the Americas, Jane Whitehead.

"Cameron's charisma and enthusiasm is contagious on camera and I look forward to seeing what he will do as Virgin Australia's 'High Flyer,' she added.

All 18 'Best Jobs' finalists have spent the past week undertaking a series of adventure, nature-based, culinary, social media and photography challenges and assessments as part of the rigorous final selection process.

"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," Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said.

In addition to "Chief Funster," the other 'Best Jobs' offered by Tourism Australia include:

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

All the successful 'Best Jobs' candidates are expected to commence their new positions between August and December 2013. Each comes with an attractive six month salary package worth A$100,000 including living costs.

About 'Best Jobs in the World'
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.

There were more than 600,000 expressions of interest made by over 330,000 individuals from 196 countries around the world.

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 revealed: 72 percent are planning to apply for an Australian working holiday visa and that 39 percent are 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 tripled to more than 470,000 fans as more young people around the world actively seek out 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 downloadable print and broadcast campaign materials visit the following Link:
http://medianet.multimediarelease.com.au/bundles/d32d0ccf-ad04-4bf0-b9a7-a48f2b2e3920

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

SOURCE Tourism Australia