Winner of "The Best Job In The World"

On Wednesday May 6th, Tourism Queensland announced the winner of the "Best Job In The World" contest. The winner is 34 year old Ben Southall from the UK. Southall was one of the 16 finalists chosen for the "paid vacation" position. For 6 months, Southall will tour the islands of the Great Barrier Reef and report back to Tourism Queensland. The world can also follow his stories by viewing his blogs, photo diary, video updates, and interviews. Ben begins reporting July 1, 2009.

Since beginning in January, the contest quickly gained international attention with Tourism Queensland receiving almost 35,000 video entries. The videos were narrowed down to 50 then down to 16. The 16 finalists were flown to Hamilton Island where Southall was declared the winner.

Congratulations to Ben Southall. We wish him the best of luck and we all look forward to hearing about his adventures touring around the Great Barrier Reef. If you want to follow his progress, visit the contest's website at www.islandreefjob.com

Happy Travels,

BikeHike Adventures