Australia extends 'world's best job' to four more
AFP Global Edition | 2009-08-13 10:00:22
<div><p>Australian tourism officials on Thursday said they were seeking four "mates" to help out with what has been billed as the Best Job in the World in a bid to reinvigorate the publicity campaign.</p><p>Queensland premier Anna Bligh said one winner picked in a lucky draw next month would be able to invite three friends to spend the rest of the year exploring the idyllic Whitsunday Islands.</p><p>"These four mates will have the holiday of a lifetime," she said. "They won't get a salary, but gee they'll have a lot of fun."</p><p>Britain's Ben Southall won a worldwide contest in May to land the six-month job as caretaker of Hamilton Island, snorkelling and sailing round the Great Barrier Reef islands and blogging about his experiences.</p><p>Tourism Queensland say the campaign has been a great success, although only a handful of comments have appeared on www.islandreefjob.com alongside Southall's blogs so far this month.</p><p>In his latest video message Southall said exploring hundreds of islands in six months was "an impossible task for one person to achieve."</p><p>Tourism Queensland chief executive Anthony Hayes said the northeast coastal region had seen a 15 to 20 percent rise in bookings after the Best Job in the World campaign.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=56637914&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>
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