Tourism Australia is encouraging fans on its UK Facebook page* - www.facebook.com/australianworkingholiday - to head Down Under on the Working Holiday Visa, encouraging talkability via a new virtual gap year gadget.

The gap gadget asks fans a series of fun questions about their work and travel preferences, inviting them to pick which friends they’d like to go to Australia with. This results in the creation of an inspirational photo album full of pictures representing the fan’s wish lists, tagging them and their mates in the photos.

 

The fan and the friends they selected get a notification to check out the photo album, highlighting all the fun things they could experience on a gap adventure in Australia.

 

Through video content on the page and information posted on the planning tab, fans are encouraged to experience Australia for themselves, rather than simply putting themselves in a virtual picture.

 

This new tool has been added to the Facebook page as part of Tourism Australia’s ongoing strategy to promote the Working Holiday Visa programme by highlighting the benefits to combine work and travel.

 

An Australian Working Holiday Visa allows 18-30 year olds the opportunity to combine 12 months travelling in Australia with incidental work, making those holiday funds go further and giving ‘gappers’ the opportunity to live the Aussie lifestyle.

 

Tourism Australia General Manager (UK and Europe), Rodney Harrex comments:

“The new gap gadget is a fun device designed to generate talkability amongst our Facebook fans about the Working Holiday Visa.

 

“Those that have already travelled on the programme are sharing their stories on our page encouraging others to go which is very powerful. We want to keep the conversations going, bringing new friends in to the discussions. This tool is a neat way to spread the message about gap years in Oz, getting more young people to experience the Aussie lifestyle for themselves.”

 

For the 12 months ending 30 June 2009, there has been a 17.67% increase** in the number of Working Holiday Visas granted to British citizens.