SYDNEY, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tourism Australia is teaming up with industry and State and Territory tourism partners in a new A$4 million campaign targeting the international youth market - a segment which last year contributed nearly A$12 billion in tourism spending and a quarter of all Australia's international visitors.

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At the heart of the campaign is a global competition involving six of Australia's State and Territory Tourism Organisations - each offering their own unique "Best Job in the World" as a winning prize.

The competition was unveiled today in Cairns, one of the country's most popular destinations amongst young travellers, by the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, alongside Ben Southall who was the successful candidate in Tourism Queensland's highly successful "Best Job in the World" campaign in 2009.

The "Best Jobs in the World" initiative is part of a major international marketing push which will focus upon promoting tourism opportunities provided by Australia's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

The campaign will target travellers between 18 and 30 years of age in Australia and overseas, with particular focus on international markets eligible for an Australian working holiday visas, including the UK and Ireland, the US and Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

The six 'Best Jobs in the World' each come with an attractive six month salary package worth A$100,000 including living costs and are:

* Chief Funster (New South Wales)
* Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory)
* Park Ranger (Queensland)
* Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia)
* Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne)
* Taste Master (Western Australia)

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the competition provided an excellent platform to entice more young people from around the world to come to Australia to holiday, but also to work, helping to fill many unfilled tourism jobs across Australia, a key challenge for the industry.

"We've taken one of the most successful tourism campaigns in recent times -"Best Job in the World" - and made it bigger and better by coming up with a competition which represents the very best of our country - our breath-taking landscapes and scenery, our unique nature and wildlife, great food and wine and, of course, our huge sense of fun," Mr McEvoy said.

Ben Southall added: "A few years ago I won "The Best Job in the World" – being an Island Caretaker on the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately for me, my time is up. But luckily for the world 'The Best Job in the World' is back. This time there's not one, but six amazing jobs in Australia up for grabs."

Mr McEvoy said the competition was expected to appeal to youth travellers' sense of fun and adventure. "The youth market contributes more than a quarter of all Australia's international arrivals. These are visitors who tend to stay longer, disperse widely and often come back again, with their families, later in their lives. For many young people, Australia's working holiday visa programs provide the economic means to fund travel plans, and this is at the heart of our new campaign," he said.

"Despite recent challenges - such as the high Australian dollar and the global financial crisis affecting some of Australia's traditional Western markets – the youth traveller segment remains an important part of Australia's visitor mix," Mr McEvoy said.

The youth segment contributes A$12 billion annually in total tourism spending and delivers nearly 1.6 million (26%) of Australia's international arrivals. On average, youth travellers spend A$7,279 per trip in Australia (IVS: September 2012).

"This is a wonderful chance to reinforce and amplify our There's Nothing Like Australia message that Australia is a wonderful, world class destination full of unique experiences, adventure and great places to explore," Mr McEvoy said.

Tourism Australia has secured a number of key partners to support the campaign, including Virgin Australia, STA Travel, Citibank, DELL, IKEA, Sony Music and Monster.com, who have created an online 'jobs board', advertising temporary jobs within the Australian tourism industry aimed at travellers visiting the country under Australia's WHM program.

For further details of the competition visit Tourism Australia's Working Holidays Facebook page, www.facebook.com/australianworkingholiday  or www.australia.com/bestjobs

For further information contact:

Leo Seaton
Tourism Australia
+61 447 463 197
lseaton@tourism.australia.com

Kim Moore
Tourism Australia
+61 419 165 562
kmoore@tourism.australia.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/TourismAus

SOURCE Tourism Australia