An American finance graduate, a Brazilian travel photographer, an Irish internet entrepreneur, a French tourism graduate, an English film costume designer and a Canadian adventure tour guide have beaten off more than 330,000 competitors from 196 countries to be awarded Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World'.
The global competition came to a finale in Sydney yesterday with job offers made to:
- Andrew Smith (USA): Chief Funster (New South Wales)
- Roberto Seba (Brazil): Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne, Victoria)
- Allan Dixon (Ireland): Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory)
- Elisa Detrez (France): Park Ranger (Queensland)
- Rich Keam (England): Taste Master (Western Australia)
- Greg Snell (Canada): Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia)
A seventh job was awarded by Virgin Australia to Cameron Ernst from the USA, who will fly the length and breadth of the country as the airline's new 'High Flyer', championing Australia's best customer service experiences.
The 18 finalists spent the past week undertaking a series of adventure, nature-based, culinary, social media and photography challenges and assessments in Australia, as part of a rigorous final selection process.
Not surprisingly, the seven winners were very happy with their once-in-a-lifetime win.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” said Allan Dixon from Ireland. “I’m so overwhelmed. I don’t know what the future holds but I’m just super-excited.”
Allan has worked in film, social media and the Internet and has a string of adventure-style hobbies such as skateboarding, photography and cycling. His job description requires him to journey through the outback, meet the locals and discover exciting adventures.
He says he has fallen in love with the outback of the Northern Territory.
“You feel like this is what you should be doing with your life.”
French woman Elisa Detrez, who will work as a Coastal Park Ranger for Tourism Queensland, says she is thrilled.
She speaks four languages, has post-graduate qualifications in tourism and has previous lived and worked in Spain, Germany and New Zealand.
“Queensland has it all. There are so many landscapes. The climate is very nice. The Great Barrier Reef, the outback, the beaches. I cannot wait to start the job.”
Elisa’s role including checking the water temperature, patrolling beaches and “leaving only footprints”.
The Western Australia job which was won by English Rich Keam, a musician and magician, includes eating, drinking and foraging his way around the state - including diving for Western Australian rock lobster (pictured).
Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the competition had been extremely tough, but that all of the finalists deserved great credit for their performances.
"I'd like to congratulate all of the 18 finalists for the tremendous enthusiasm and effort they have put into this competition. 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," Mr McEvoy said.
There were more than 330,000 people from 196 countries around the world who entered the competition.
Mr McEvoy said the real winner overall was the natural beauty and diversity of Australia which, thanks to the competition, had been showcased globally across nearly 200 countries across the world. A survey by Tourism Australia showed that 72% of those who entered the competition planned to apply for a working holiday visa and 39% are “seriously considering” taking a working holiday in the next six months.
The seven winners are expected to commence their jobs between August and December 2013.
See what the Outback Adventurer job is all about!
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