Passionate foodie and avid entertainer Rich Keam, from Brighton, has defeated thousands of entrants worldwide to secure one of six ‘Best Jobs in the World’ - as Taste Master of Western Australia!  

Placed with a six month contract and A$100,000 package (approx £61,000), Rich’s day-to-day duties will involve eating his way around the state, foraging out the finest produce and uncovering the best bars and restaurants.

Rich, a musician and costume designer, has spent the last week in Australia with 17 other international finalists undertaking a series of adventure, nature-based, culinary, social media and photography challenges, as part of a rigorous final selection process for six dream jobs in Australia.  Rich succeeded Rebecca Morris from the USA and Julian Button from Germany to take out the coveted prize of Taste Master.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the competition had been extremely tough, but that all of the finalists deserved great credit for their performances.

 
“I’d like to congratulate all of the 18 finalists for the tremendous enthusiasm and effort they have put into this competition. Rich is among six successful candidates that have demonstrated incredible talent, energy and desire throughout the application process and will, I’m sure, take these positive attributes into the job with him,” Mr McEvoy said.

 
“We’re delighted to have another British winner this time round – after Ben Southall from Hampshire won the ‘Best Job in the World’ as Island Caretaker on Queensland’s Barrier Reef in 2009.  We know Brits have a strong affiliation with Australia and we hope this competition will encourage more young people from the UK to consider a working holiday Down Under,” he added.

 
Jo Muskus from Scotland was another British finalist competing for the role of Park Ranger in Queensland.  She was succeeded by Elisa Detrez from France.  Holly Easterbrook from London who was vying for the role of Chief Funster in New South Wales travelled to Australia as one of the 18 finalists but had to withdraw due to a pre-existing medical condition. 

 
The five other dream job offers were made to:

 
Andrew Smith (USA): Chief Funster (New South Wales)

 
Roberto Seba (Brazil):Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne, Victoria)

Allan Dixon (Ireland): Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory) 

Elisa Detrez (France): Park Ranger (Queensland)

 
Greg Snell (Canada): Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia)

A seventh job was awarded by Virgin Australia to Cameron Ernst from USA, who will fly the length and breadth of the country as the airline's new 'High Flyer', championing Australia's best customer service experiences.

The six successful candidates were selected from over 330,000 applicants worldwide and are expected to commence their jobs between August and December 2013.

Tourism Australia’s ‘Best Jobs in the World’ competition is part of a major international marketing push to promote tourism opportunities provided by Australia’s Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

In the UK, there was a total of 41,712 Working Holiday Visas granted for the 12 month period ending June 2012, representing an increase of 7% compared to the same period the previous year. The positive trend is continuing in the UK with the latest available figures for the Working Holiday grants showing year on year growth of 11% to 30 April 2013.

In 2012, Working Holiday Makers contributed A$2.5 billion to the Australian economy, each spending on average in excess of A$13,000 during their stay.

 
A recent Tourism Australia survey completed by nearly 15,000 of the 330,000 people who entered the global competition has revealed 72% are planning to apply for an Australian working holiday visa and 39% seriously considering taking a working holiday within the next six months.

 
Since the competition was launched, Tourism Australia’s working holiday maker Facebook page has grown from 150,000 to more than 440,000 fans with young people around the world actively seeking information about a working holiday in Australia.

 
The campaign is supported by Destination New South Wales, Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism Victoria, Tourism Western Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland and South Australian Tourism Commission.

 
In addition a number of key commercial partners are supporting the campaign, including Virgin Australia, STA Travel, Citibank, DELL, IKEA, Sony Music and Monster.com.

 
For footage and images of all the 18 finalists, including the six successful candidates, visit www.bestjobsintheworldmedia.com

 
For further information contact:
Margo Field or Emma Bunning at Tourism Australia on +44 207 438 4659 or mfield@tourism.australia.com; ebunning@tourism.australia.com or on twitter.com/AustraliaPRUK

For downloadable print and broadcast campaign materials visit the following link: http://medianet.multimediarelease.com.au/bundles/d32d0ccf-ad04-4bf0-b9a7-a48f2b2e3920