From the United States, Britain, Russia, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Kenya, they were selected from a total of 34,684 applicants from some 200 countries and regions.
"Yesterday, a team of Tourism Queensland marketing and international staff along with a professional recruitment company made the very tough decisions necessary to cut the shortlist to the Top 50," said state Tourism Minister Desley Boyle.
The tourism promotion campaign -- finding a caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef was run by the Queensland state government. The winner would get 150,000 Australian dollars (about 100,000 U.S. dollars) for six months and includes free airfares from the successful candidate's home country to the island.
"There's everything from action and adventure, comedy, animation and a choreographed musical number that just stays with you," Boyle said.
The Top 50 will be narrowed down to a final 11, 10 of whom will be chosen by Tourism Queensland with an 11th "wild card" applicant chosen by popular vote.
They will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May to take part in the final selection process with the successful candidate announced on May 6.
AP
