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Tourism Australia is encouraging fans on its UK Facebook page* 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 program 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 said: “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 program 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 total Working Holiday Visas granted to British citizens.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/australianworkingholiday or www.australia.com/workingholiday.

Notes to editors:
* Tourism Australia launched its UK Facebook page in September 2009 and has 7,300 fans to date. The page is specifically aimed at British and Irish citizens aged 18-30, encouraging them to visit Australia on the Working Holiday Visa. The page links to Tourism Australia’s global Facebook page, www.facebook.com/australia.

** There were 40,182 Working Holiday Visas granted to British citizens in the period 1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009. Figures provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship from the Australian International Visitor Survey.

The facts about the first Working Holiday Visa:
1) You can apply for the visa if you’re aged between 18-30
2) You can enter Australia within 12 months of getting the visa
3) You have to be outside of Australia to apply for the visa – lodge your application online at www.immi.gov.au   
4) You can stay in Australia for up to 12 months, leaving and re-entering as many times as you like during that 12 month period
5) You can work with the same employer for up to six months

The facts about the second Working Holiday Visa:
1) If you spend three months working in regional Australia doing ‘specified work’, eg, fruit picking or construction then you can apply to extend your Working Holiday Visa and stay for another year
2) You can apply for this in Australia and stay on for a total of 24 months from the date you first entered Australia on the Working Holiday Visa
3) Or, you can come home and apply for it and return to Australia for another 12 month period
4) Either way, you need proof of employment in a regional area in a ‘specified work’ role – see www.immi.gov.au for all the details and terms and conditions.