Canadian Wildlife Enthusiast wins an Australian 'Best Job in the World'

Greg Snell named South Australia's "Wildlife Caretaker" in Global Youth Competition

TORONTO, June 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Tourism Australia announced the six 'Best Jobs in the World' winners in Sydney today with Canadian candidate Greg Snell appointed as the "Wildlife Caretaker" based on Kangaroo Island and around South Australia.

In his new position, Snell will swim with sea lions, feed echidnas, and participate in environmental conservation efforts along the southern coast, documenting his experiences through videos and blogs.

Snell competed in Australia against two other contenders - Nick Tilley from the USA and Hsin Hsuan Hsieh from Taiwan - this week in a series of challenges involving Australia's unique animals. All 18 'Best Jobs' finalists have spent the past week undertaking a series of adventure, nature-based, culinary, social media and photography 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.

"Greg's ability to engage his followers on Facebook and Twitter helped him build a strong foundation of support and win the 'Best Job' role. As the competition heated up, he consistently proved to be the most passionate contender, naturally interacting with our loveable wildlife and producing fantastic videos," added Tourism Australia Vice President for the Americas, Jane Whitehead.

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

• Andrew Smith, USA - Chief Funster (Sydney, NSW)
• 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)

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" and champion Australia's best customer service experiences.

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

SOURCE: Tourism Australia

Kristen Malaby, Tourism Australia Marketing Communications Manager, Americas, on [phone] or [email protected]

Nicole McKnight, PR & Media Relations, on [phone] or [email protected]

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