The Best Job in the World sparks interest in Asian media to visit the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef
Posted by editor (editor) on Dec 10 2009
2009 >>

Queensland’s appeal as a popular holiday destination for Asian travellers is set to reach new limits following the arrival of five groups of prominent journalists from Taiwan, Korea and China, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.

Mr Lawlor said Tourism Queensland’s charismatic Island Caretaker Ben Southall had captured the interest of the high profile Asian media crews who are spending time with Ben on the islands.

“Ben welcomed the first group, Sanlih E-TV Crew from Taiwan, to Hamilton Island last week and took the group for a tour of his ‘office’ – an impressive island villa, where they commencec filming for their popular program ‘The Global Fantasies’,” Mr Lawlor said.

“The other groups who arrived this week include bloggers for Korea’s popular travel website Naver in Korea, a KBS 2TV Korean film crew who will film two episodes on Australia for a new program titled ‘Now, the World’, a Chinese Getaway film crew and journalists from the Shanghai Morning Post.”

Mr Lawlor said hosting the visiting journalists was all part of a day’s work for the Island Caretaker whose six-month $150,000 contract required him to explore the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef and report back about his adventures via a blog, video diary and media interviews.

“The journalists’ arrivals are just another wonderful opportunity for Ben to showcase the diversity of the Queensland experience to visitors from Taiwan, Korea and China – three of Queensland’s most significant Asian markets,” he said.

“As part of Ben’s role as the Island Caretaker he will take the groups on a series of key on and off water activities around the islands including bushwalking and a guided scuba diving trip to give the VIP guests an insight into the experiences available in his backyard.

“Other key highlights include a sailing and dining experience at one of the islands waterfront restaurants.”

Tourism Queensland acting CEO Steve McRoberts said since the Best Job in the World was launched in January the campaign had developed a cult-like following in several of Queensland’s key Asian markets and the interest in Ben’s Queensland adventures was still strong.

“Earlier in the year Tawian rallied behind Best Job in the World candidate Clare Wang and voted her into the Top 16 round of the recruitment process as the wild card candidates, receiving more than 151,676 votes – almost three times that of her nearest competitor,” Mr McRoberts said.

“Tourism Queensland also recently recruited Juweon Kim a Top 16 candidate for the Best Job in the World as a Queensland tourism ambassador to help capitalise on his high profile in Korea and the continued interest in the campaign.”

Mr Lawlor said the latest International Visitor Survey for the year ending June 2009 revealed 250,000 travellers from Taiwan, Korea and China visited Queensland, spending a combined total of $611 million on their trip.

“Our aim is to increase the visibility and presence of Queensland destinations and products in our international markets and these visits are the perfect opportunity for us to generate a real interest and desire for people to want to come to Queensland.”

Last changed: Dec 10 2009 at 10:13 AM