Friday 21 June 2013

Winner of NSW Chief Funster and Best Job in the World announced Andrew Smith of Orange County, USA Appointed

Andrew Smith
The winner of the NSW Best Job in the World - the Chief Funster has been announced. Andrew Smith from Orange County, California, USA has been revealed as the lucky winner of the role, which will see him relocate to Sydney for six-months working for Destination NSW, the NSW Government's Tourism and Major Events Agency, as a social media commentator and an ambassador for youth travel to the State.

The Chief Funster will travel across NSW, appearing at major events, media launches and selected festivals, and take part in visitor activites and experiences in some of NSW's most beautiful locations, reporting via social media on what's happening, and how visitors can plan their trip to NSW.

"I'm delighted to announce that Andrew has been successful in his quest to become Destination NSW's Chief Funster, a role which will be integral in promoting and showcasing the best that Sydney and NSW has to offer youth visitors and Working Holiday Makers to our State," Ms Chipchase said.

Following the final interview and selection process which involved the finalists undertaking challenges across Sydney and Port Stephens on the NSW Central Coast, Andrew was chosen as Chief Funster, having displayed his outstanding ability to communicate and engage through social media networks including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter; the blog content he produced around his experiences in NSW, and also his interaction and engagement with the general public, other visitors and key industry partners.

"I also want to congratulate and thank the other finalists who performed so well, and of course invite the 124,000 people who applied to become the NSW Chief Funster to come to NSW, and enjoy a working holiday maker experience not to be missed!" Ms Chipchase added.

As Australia's major events and creative services capital, events that NSW's Chief Funster may be attending and/or reporting on include:

• Sydney New Year's Eve
• Sydney Mardi Gras Parade
• Vivid Sydney
• The ARIA Awards
• Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia
• Sydney Film Festival• Bathurst 1000
• Tamworth Country Music Festival
• Archibald Prize Exhibition• Tropfest
• Surfest in Newcastle
• The Inter Dominion Championship
• Sydney Racing Carnival
• Opera on Sydney Harbour
• NRL Finals
• Major League Baseball Opening Series

Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World' competition was launched in March, and is part of a campaign to promote tourism opportunities provided by Australia's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program. Applicants chose from six jobs from States across Australia, with NSW's Chief Funster receiving 124,000 applications, the highest number of any State in Australia.

In the year ended March 2013, NSW received 196,600 WHM visitors or 66.9% of total WHM visitors to Australia, the most of any State, and 30.8% of WHM nights. WHM travellers contributed 6.7% of visitors and 21.3% of nights in the State. The average length of stay in NSW by WHM visitors was 74.1 nights spending $778.3 million in the State (incl package expenditure). This represented 30.8% of total WHM expenditure in Australia.

WHM visitors spent over 14.6 million nights in the State.

Some of the highlights of Andrew's application included:

- A captivating application video produced while traveling in Nairobi which demonstrated his proficiency at producing high-quality content on the road- His demonstrated ability to connect with locals and travellers alike,- High level social media networking on Instagram and Twitter through his own networks,
- Interesting blog posts of his experiences in Sydney and NSW on his blog http://wheresthefun.at/,- Hosting three kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the FIFA Asian World Cup Qualifier Australia v Iraq game in Sydney; and
- A memorable travel segment for mtvtravelco.com highlighting Port Stephens "Hotspot": sandboarding on Stockton Sand Dunes.

Follow the Chief Funster adventures at:

Facebook: facebook.com/chieffunsterNSW
Twitter: twitter.com/chieffunsterNSW
Instagram: Instagram.com/chieffunsterNSW#ChiefFunster; #SeeSydney; #NSWGetaways

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