If you can remember a couple of months ago the media was flooded with reports about The Best  Job in the World. The job to be caretaker on palm-fringed Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia for six months with a hefty salary, a villa and a very modest work schedule made headlines on the news, radio and all over the internet. After months of interviewing Ben Southall, an 34-year-old British man,  landed the job by fighting off competition from 34,000 other applicants.

Earlier this week Ben reported to his new position and in the next couple of months we will be able to see if this brilliant concept from Australia’s Tourism Queensland pay off. So far they can’t complain much as they have been spending around £830,000  on the campaign, but it’s estimated to have generated more than £54 million  in free advertising.

The challenge now for tourism chiefs is to convert interest into visitation.  Maybe a tough task for such a long-haul destination in this kind of economy? Or maybe not? Time will tell…