Finalists at the Sunshine Coast [[Photo/China Daily]

 

Finalists in the Daintree rainforest.[Photo/China Daily]

Finalists travelling by Harley.[Photo/China Daily]

Finalists riding the Army Duck in  the rainforest.[Photo/China Daily]

Indonesian automotive components manufacturer ADR Group will be celebrating today after winning the Million Dollar Memo – 1 million Australian dollars worth of Queensland travel incentives awarded by Tourism Queensland (TQ).

Jan Jarratt, Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, who was in Port Douglas to announce the winner, said Rusman Salem Mustam, VP International Business Developmentof ADR Group, would be “employee of the year” after leading his company to the million dollar prize.

The Million Dollar Memo is Tourism Queensland’s latest global campaign. It launched in March and received 291 entries. The project aimed to offer the chance for one company to win 1 million Australian dollars in Queensland incentive travel experiences for their staff.

Representatives from five Chinese companies, including Beijing Huayuan Int'l Travel and other four Taiwan companies ASUS Design Centre, XinMedia, Yahoo! Taiwan and Procter & Gamble were deemed finalists.

ADR Group was named winner out of 20 finalists from 11 countries and regions after an eight-day challenge, which spanned a range of destinations and some of Queensland’s premium incentive experiences.

“All of the companies who made the top 20 and the finalists who represented them in Queensland did an amazing job of promoting both their company and Queensland,” Jarratt said.

“While the 20 finalists could not have been more diverse, representing small companies with less than 20 staff to global organizations with more than 1000, they all had two things in common – a drive to win and a new-found love of Queensland. ”

Although Tony Ong, the representative from Bejing Huayuan Int'l Travel felt a little bit disappointed, he said the competition offered his company a fantastic opportunity to extend business partners across the world.

As the representative from a travel agency, Ong also said his company could learn a lot on travel incentives from the competition, especially some detailed arrangements. For example, itineraries and introductions for each finalist had been saved in an iPad prepared for all competitors, including the daily dress code.

Also, he said finalists had opportunities to cooperate with different people when they took part in diverse group activities.

For the last eight days, finalists have taken part in some of Queensland’s best incentive experiences including traveling by helicopter and motorcycle, visiting Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art, meeting dolphins, koalas and kangaroos, taking part in a mini surf carnival on the Gold Coast, cooking with some of the Sunshine Coast’s top chefs, dining under the stars in the heart of the Daintree rainforest, white water rafting on the Barron River and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.

“Even though only one company could win the incentive travel, all of our finalists are richer for their experience and our aim is for them to go home and inspire their company to choose Queensland as their next incentive travel destination,” Jarratt said.

Rusman said it was such an honor to have won the Million Dollar Memo and could not wait to tell his company they would soon visit Queensland.

"From the beginning regardless of whether we would win the Million Dollar Memo, the ADR Group would be committed to sending 200 staff to Queensland at our own expense," Rusman said.

Mr Hayes said Queensland’s tourism industry would be the ultimate winners of the Million Dollar Memo.

“When these 20 finalists return to their workplaces we want them to tell their bosses that Queensland is the best place in the world to reward their staff,” Hayes said.

“Likewise, we want those who have followed the incredible experiences these 20 have had and the efforts they have gone to in promoting Queensland to tell their bosses that they also deserve a Queensland travel reward.”

Hayes said while the incentive challenge event was now over, the Million Dollar Memo momentum would continue.

“Over the coming months we will work with the ADR Group to help them design an incredible million dollar incentive travel experience for their company,” he said.

Hayes said incentive travelers spent around 2.5 times that of other travelers and Tourism Queensland hoped the Million Dollar Memo campaign helped position Queensland as one of the world’s top travel incentive destinations.

“We have a five year strategy aimed at positioning Queensland as a top travel incentive destination and our aim is to ensure that the profile the Million Dollar Memo has given our state will help make sure that when companies that reward their staff with travel incentives are looking for their next destination Queensland is top of mind.”