World's 'Best job' winner due to be announced

By Jane Chen  |   2009-5-5  |     ONLINE EDITION

TWO Chinese are among the 16 finalists waiting to know the winner tomorrow of the "Best Job in the World," a six-month assignment to swim, explore and relax on exotic Hamilton Island while writing a blog to promote Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Yao Yi, a 30-year-old single male from Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and manager in a joint venture company in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, is the only finalist from China's mainland.

The other Chinese is Clare Wang from Taiwan who was selected by the public as a "wild card" winner from a pool of 50 short-listed entries chosen by the organizers.

The other 14 are from countries such as France, Germany, Ireland, Japan and UK, today's Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The campaign offers the island caretaker a A$150,000 (US$107,000) contract for six months beginning on July 1.

The finalists performed well at the past two days' interviews in Australia on May 4 and 5, Yao told the Shanghai Morning Post.

The finalists were involved in group activities such as swimming and fish feeding as well as media interviews, according to Shen Li, Shanghai manager of Tourism Queensland, the promotion's sponsor.

The final result will be announced at 3pm local time on May 6, Shen said.

As part of an A$1.7 million campaign to publicize the charms of northeastern Queensland, experts regarded the job recruitment campaign as an outstanding marketing success, attracting more than 34,000 applicants and global media.

Queensland has witnessed a sharp rise in attention from Chinese tourists, according to Shen. Group visitors to Queensland in the first four months have matched the total of last year.