Two lucky Illawarra men have won their own Pacific island resort in an international raffle, shelling out just $65 for the winning ticket.
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Owners of the remote Micronesian piece of paradise sold 75,000 tickets as news of their unique sales strategy spread across 150 countries.
Wollongong’s Josh Ptasznyk and Nicolas Saravanja – an accountant and financial planner respectively - knew a good set of numbers when they saw them.
“There wasn’t like a ridiculous chance [of winning],” said Mr Ptasznyk, 26.
“The odds were actually reasonable – better than winning the lotto.”
The Kosrae Nautilus Resort is one of a handful of accommodation options on Kosrae island. Queensland couple Doug and Sally Beitz spent their life savings building the resort and have called it home since the 1990s.
Citing a desire to return to Australia to be with family, the couple launched the raffle earlier this year, promising the winner a debt-free asset, with no tax liability. The resort includes a restaurant, eight motor vehicles, a scuba diving business and comes with $10,000 in cash to spend on the business.
The Beitzes intend for the 16-room resort to change hands with its staff in place.
Staff were capable of running the resort, should the new owner favour an arm’s length approach, they said in their sales pitch.
Mr Ptasznyk and Mr Saravanja have spoken to the Beitzes over the phone and plan to visit the resort as soon as possible. With little to no hospitality experience, they are not planning on quitting their jobs any time soon.
“I’ve been to a lot of hotels but I haven’t actually run a hotel,” Mr Ptasznyk said.
“We’re unsure if we’re going to manage it ourselves or have someone manage it on our behalf. We are not committing to anything until we actually fly over and see it.”
Mr Saravanja started his first financial planning job in January after graduating from UOW. “I kind of just entered [the raffle] for the process itself - I didn’t think too far ahead,” he said. “Now I’ve got a lot running through my head. It’s pretty weird – but exciting too.