Get Paid 100 Grand to See the Great Barrier Reef
There are less than two weeks remaining to apply for what Tourism Queensland is billing as the Best Job in the World. Have you applied?
For anyone interested in travel and nature, it probably is the best job in the world.
It’s a six-month posting to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – the largest living being on Earth, larger than the United Kingdom in area, and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Living on beautiful Hamilton Island, your job would involve some light caretaking duties – about 12 hours a month – and the rest of your time would be dedicated to exploring the many islands scattered along the thousands of kilometres (2,600km or 1,600 miles to be precise) of reef and telling the world about it through blogging. For this you would be paid $AUS150,000 (nearly $97,000), on top of a rent-free three-bedroom villa.
It sounds like a hoax but it’s actually just a very clever marketing campaign – it’s given Tourism Queensland media coverage all over the world and masses of word of mouth. You have to do a 60-second video to apply and they’ve received nearly 10,000 applications so far. (I’m one of them – though I’ll refrain from posting the link here).
I hope the campaign does bring more tourists to the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a stunning example of the beauty of our planet and what is at stake as we strive to heal the environment. Talk about “last chance to see” tourism – the Great Barrier Reef itself is officially in deep trouble.
Coral reefs are under threat globally from climate change warming the temperature of the sea and causing bleaching and the increasing CO2 in the ocean raising the acidity of the water. Seventy per cent of the world is covered by water, yet the oceans are not clearly understood at all. The more people experience the beauty of the ocean and the more they care, the more policy makers will take it into account.
Tourism helps fund upkeep of the reef and you can even assist with the conservation efforts. A third of the reef is a marine park where not even recreational fishing is allowed. Tourists do need to be careful not to damage the reef (especially by anchoring and mooring boats, polluting the water, walking on the reef or breaking off bits as souvenirs). However, the biggest threats come from global warming and run-off from cane sugar farmers on the mainland, not tourism.
Of course, it’s important to consider the environmental impact of flying to Queensland but if you are planning to travel long haul anyway, it’s a viable option. It’s a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane – a long way but shorter than, say, Los Angeles to Rome. And if you’re Australian, there’s really no excuse!
Responsible Travel is one of the many travel companies offering sustainable holidays to the Great Barrier Reef. If you can’t go in person, check it out on the newly launched oceans feature of Google Earth (or watch a wildlife documentary).
Image: Eulinky
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4 Comments
February 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I saw this job posted about a month ago. Makes me wish I had less responsibility in my life.
February 13th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
There’s still another week to go if you decide you want to apply. As for responsibilities, the money’s good and you can take your family (if you have one) with you.
Caitlin’s last blog post..Photo Friday: Queen Elizabeth’s hunting lodge
March 9th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Best Hoax of 2009
Most of the English speaking world has heard about the “Island reef Job” or “The Best Job in the World” contest run by Tourism Queensland in Australia. The promotion has been heralded as one of the greatest marketing phenomenon ever and initially appeared so.
Well it is more than a well crafted promotion. It is a HOAX.
The winner was already determined before the contest even opened. David Whitehill and his agency Creative Representation are in league with Tourism Queensland and Cummins Nitro in designing this hoax. It was loosely based on the current crop of reality shows currently on TV. Sort of a survivor / big brother blend except the winner was already decided before Christmas in 2008!
Unfortunately for them the contest side of the promotion grew out of control when the world media ran with the initial story. Thousands of media outlets and tens of thousands unsuspecting applicants inundated the poorly designed TQ operation. Some folks have spent significant resources providing video (estimate $30 ““ 20 million in total) and media outlets have to this date (March 4, 2009) provided ($80 million) in free publicity! “For a $US1.8 million ($NZ3.6 million) campaign we have received nearly $US80 million in publicity,” said Ms Boyle (State of Queensland Minister of Tourism).
The applicants who put their heart and soul into this hoax are very angry about this revelation. The millions of viewers are disappointed. The media outlets have expressed disbelief as to their gullibility.
After viewing the top50 and looking up David Hill’s cult status in Queensland the hoax becomes obvious. David is miles ahead of the selected top50 applications. That and the obvious bias for less than 30 years of age crowd were also given away to the selection process plan. A few of the top50 videos were over the 60 second rule that caused some applicants so much grief. One top50 video from China didn’t even have any spoken English. The real big clue to the hoax was that the final winner is ultimately to be decided by Tourism Queensland. This will allow for David Hill to be given the work and use it as a launching pad for his acting career.
The Queensland people will accept this much better now that a local boy is keeping the cash in the area.
“There were rumours of a hoax from the beginning.” Michael Branagh, boss of Cummins Nitro’s Brisbane office said he was delighted with the success of the project which had generated huge amounts of worldwide publicity. He said the video was put on the site to “seed” it and AAP had only itself to blame for being fooled. He said: “Bad luck to them. They should have known better.”
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