Elisa Detrez handed back her akubra this week after a successful six-month stint as Queensland’s ‘Best Jobs in the World’ Park Ranger. She will remain a life-long tourism ambassador for the state.

Minister for Tourism Jann Stuckey said Elisa’s role as a tourism ambassador had increased international coverage of Queensland and boosted visitor numbers.

“Elisa has been an outstanding tourism ambassador for Queensland and I thank her for the passion she brought to the job,” Ms Stuckey said.

Over the past six months, Elisa travelled to more than 65 destinations throughout Queensland, posting more than 1,000 images and videos of her experiences. Her activities included jungle-surfing in the Daintree Rainforest, learning to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef, and camping in Cape York.

“Elisa has been recognised for her social media success being shortlisted for a prestigious Golden Blog Award after having acquired more than 40,000 global followers across social media sites," Ms Stuckey said.

“Her adventures drew the attention of both Australian and international media with several crews travelling to Queensland to capture her quests and experience Queensland’s natural attractions first hand.”

Ms Stuckey said Queensland was a popular destination amongst international youth travellers and during the year to September 2013 the state welcomed 653,000 international youth visitors.

“During the same time the number of French visitors to Queensland increased 8 per cent to 41,000, while the number of international working holidaymakers also increased 15 per cent to 71, 000,” she said.

Elisa said the role of Queensland’s ‘Best Jobs in the World’ Park Ranger had been a dream come true.

“Queensland is so diverse and beautiful - thanks to this job I have had the chance to see, experience and learn so much from the custodians of the land,” Elisa said.

“I have seen first-hand the vast wilderness and natural beauty of the state and encourage everyone to travel to this piece of paradise.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Park Ranger and would do it all over again without hesitation.”

Minister for National Parks, Steve Dickson said Elisa had been a wonderful ambassador for national parks.

“It’s been great to have Elisa showcase Queensland’s assets—including our national parks and protected areas—to a global audience,” Mr Dickson said.

“Our rangers loved that she took so much pride in the role, and enjoyed explaining the environmental, cultural and historical contexts behind some of Queensland’s hidden gems.”

Elisa was selected from 100,000 expressions of interest and almost 10,000 applications for Queensland’s Park Ranger position as part of Tourism Australia’s ‘Best Jobs in the World’ campaign.

The ‘Best Jobs in the World’ is one of many initiatives supported by the Queensland Government through TEQ and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to grow eco-tourism opportunities and assist in reaching the goal of doubling annual overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2020.