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Following the success of the recently launched Wonders of The Whitsundays campaign, Tourism Whitsundays is excited to announce its new partnership with well-known voice and Whitsundays local Karen Jacobsen, The GPS Girl and original Aussie voice of SIRI in over a billion devices worldwide.

Karen is well-versed in the Wonders of The Whitsundays having grown up in neighbouring Mackay, The Whitsundays has always held a special place in Karen’s heart.

“As COVID started to spread through New York, our home for the past 20 years, I had an overwhelming urge to pack up my family and come home to Queensland. Only 24 hours later, my husband, son, and I were boarding a flight bound for my home state.

“While in lockdown, I started to see the devastating effects COVID was having on the tourism industry in The Whitsundays and the Whitsundays community, which so heavily relies on welcoming visitors.

“I really wanted to make a difference, so I reached out to Tourism Whitsundays. I was eager to lend my voice to help aid in the recovery of this very special place,” Karen said.

Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer Tash Wheeler believes this partnership with Karen is a huge coup for the region.

“We are honoured to have such an accomplished local willing to help us aid The Whitsundays in our post-COVID road to recovery.

“Karen has an instantly recognisable voice and is incredibly passionate about the destination and industry. When Karen shared her story of returning to The Whitsundays after spending so many years in New York City, it just seemed like a perfect match,” Mrs Wheeler said.

Tourism Whitsundays jumped at the chance to work with Karen and utilized her recalculation expertise within the recently launched Wonders of The Whitsundays campaign. In just over three weeks, the Wonders of The Whitsundays campaign has been a huge success. Over $70,000 of publicity was generated within the first 24hrs of launching the campaign and over $1,400,000 in direct bookings for the tourism industry.

Tash continued, “Having a little star power behind the launch of the Wonders of The Whitsundays campaign has certainly helped us with the level of coverage we received. When we launched, we had prime time news reports and substantial editorial in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

“We’ve met with Karen quite a few times now, and at every meeting, the ideas are flowing! The team and I are really excited to work with Karen on a range of PR and Marketing opportunities over the next 12 months,” she said.

Karen agreed, “With my entertainment and media background and Tourism Whitsundays marketing know-how I think we’ll be an unbeatable team,” Ms Jacobsen said.

As the Whitsundays Destination Ambassador, Karen’s role will include preparing vlogs and blogs, Karen will also be featured in various media and marketing opportunities, including regular media spots and paid-advertising over the next eight months.