Sydney- There were 34,000 applications, 50 made the shortlist for what Australian tourism-promotion authorities called "the best job in the world" and 16 were called to be interviewed for the caretaker's job on a paradise island in the Great Barrier Reef.

On Wednesday, British charity fundraiser Ben Southall learned he was the last person left standing.

The 34-year-old, who takes up a six-month contract July 1, is to pick up a six-figure pay packet for looking after Hamilton Island.

As well as keeping the swimming pool leaf-free and feeding the fish, Southall is to earn his keep producing a blog to relay to the world his impressions of Queensland as a holiday destination.

Tourism Queensland, through spokesman Anthony Hayes, said the amazingly successful competition had generated free publicity worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The answer when things are going tough is you can complain about it or you can be more creative and more aggressive and try and get more people to come," Hayes said. "The whole idea of this promotion is to find the perfect person to help us sell Queensland but to tell the rest of the world we really are open for business."(dpa)