Sunday 19 May 2013

'Best Jobs' Competition Boosts Interest In Working Holidays

A Tourism Australia survey has revealed that seven out of ten people (72%) who entered its 'Best Jobs in the World' competition are planning to apply for an Australian working holiday visa, with four out of ten (39%) seriously considering taking a working holiday within the next six months.

The online survey was completed by nearly 15,000 of the 330,000 people who entered the global competition, aimed at encouraging more young people to visit Australia under the country's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the results demonstrated that the 'Best Jobs in the World' competition was already having a positive impact promoting Australia as a desirable holiday destination amongst its key target market and, importantly, was also increasing awareness and interest in Australia's Working Holiday Maker program.

"Whilst much of the attention has focused on the six dream jobs, we shouldn't forget the real purpose of this campaign - to inspire more young people to come down under by increasing awareness and uptake of our Working Holiday Maker program. Early indications, supported by these survey results, indicate that we're ticking those boxes," Mr McEvoy said.

Eight out of ten (81%) respondents said that they had already discussed Australia as a working destination with friends and family as a direct result of the 'Best Jobs' competition.

A similar number (78%) of people said they had already researched Australia as a working holiday destination, with 77% of them saying they'd also suggested Australia to others as a working holiday destination.

Six out of ten (61%) said they had already visited the Australian immigration website (www.immi.gov.au) for more information on Australia's working holiday maker program.

The 18 finalists - three for each of the six dream jobs - were unveiled on May 15, with the six winners due to be announced on June 21. Tourism Australia received more than 620,000 applications from more than 330,000 people in 196 countries, with 46,000 applicants uploading their 30-second video.

Since the competition was launched, Tourism Australia's working holiday maker Facebook page has nearly trebled from 150,000 to 435,000 fans with young people around the world actively seeking information about a working holiday in Australia. This builds on Tourism Australia's more than four million general Facebook fans - the largest destination Facebook site in the world.

Mr McEvoy said the campaign was already generating commercial benefits for the Australian tourism industry.  

STA Travel
, one of the campaign's key partners, has already reported significant increases in the sale of youth travel packages in its three largest markets, which it has attributed directly to the competition - 100 per cent year-on-year increase in the USA, 42 per cent in Germany and 17 per cent in UK, during the campaign period.

Mr McEvoy said around a third of the people who'd initially entered the competition had agreed to receive additional information and offers about holidays in Australia, while Australian based backpacker operators Base and YHA have seen a significant spike in bookings.

"Tourism Australia will continue to capitalise on the enormous interest in this campaign by working with our commercial partners such as STA Travel and Virgin Australia to sell holidays and working holidays to many of those who missed out on one of the six best jobs," he said.

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