MR PITT ASKED THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND FAIR TRADING (MR LAWLOR) —
QUESTION:
Will the Minister provide further information on the international exposure to Queensland that has occurred since ‘The Best Job in the World’ campaign and Ben Southall’s continued work with Tourism Queensland?
ANSWER:
Since his tenure as Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef finished at the end of 2009, Best Job in the World successful candidate Ben Southall has been promoting Queensland world-wide as a Queensland Tourism Ambassador.
Since January, Ben has visited the United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan as part of a global mission to promote Queensland and its holiday destinations to potential international holidaymakers.
During his global tour, Ben has been speaking to local media - including press, radio and television – about his experiences in Queensland. The publicity figure for this exposure is conservatively estimated at $3.6 million, with the value of the exposure for his recent visit to Hong Kong, China and Taiwan still being tallied.
Highlights of Ben’s global mission include appearing on major television talk shows in the United States, including the Today Show, which has an estimated 1.5 million viewers, and cable news show Fox & Friends, with around 700,000 viewers. In New Zealand and Ireland, he also appeared on breakfast television and in local press. His visit to the Great Wall of China attracted more than 30 media outlets interested in hearing about his Queensland adventures.
Ben has also spoken about his Queensland experiences to international trade and travel industry representatives at major events such as Say G’Day in the United States, OZTalk in New Zealand and Queensland on Tour in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordic region.
He has also worked with other Best Job in the World Top 16 candidates to promote Queensland. In February, he and popular Korean candidate Juweon Kim – also a Queensland Tourism Ambassador - hosted Korean media outlets on a tour of Tropical North Queensland’s adventure activities in a bid to lure more visitors from the emerging Korean market.
This media group included representatives from AB-ROAD, Korea's leading monthly travel magazine, GQ magazine, the number one male lifestyle magazine in the country, and online bloggers.
In Japan, Ben joined with Best Job in the World Top 16 candidate and Queensland Tourism Ambassador Mieko Kobayashi on a "Best Job" themed tour which included corporate speaking engagements, media seminars and promotional activity for the Gold Coast Marathon.
Further global media exposure is assured when National Geographic Channels International launches the "Best Job in the World" six-part documentary series this year. With its Australian debut occurring in May, the series follows Ben’s exploits throughout Queensland during his tenure as Island Caretaker. The program will be available in more than 315 million homes in 165 countries and 34 languages.
Where appropriate, Tourism Queensland has also worked closely with Trade Queensland to ensure opportunities associated with government trade missions to Queensland’s international markets are maximised.
Since its inception, The Best Job in the World campaign is estimated to have generated more than $410 million in global publicity for Queensland.
The campaign has also generated considerable social media exposure for the state and its holiday destinations. More than 8.7 million people have looked at 57 million pages on the www.islandreefjob.com website. On this site, Ben has written more than 70 blogs, uploaded 2800 photos, posted 55 video diaries, tweeted more than 1974 times and visited 100 Queensland destinations
