Australian wins Tropical island in online lottery

Having paid some 49 Australian dollars (36 US dollars), the Australian won the most real tropical island. To be more precise — a tropical resort on the island of Kosra in Micronesia, so far from the hustle and bustle and a quiet place that it can barely be seen on the world map.

A couple from Australia, Doug and Sally Beitz, decided to make a non-standard move when it came to selling their island paradise. Instead of a boring real estate auction or an ordinary advertisement, they decided to raffle their property on the Internet, hoping that they could change someone's life.

(4 photos in total)

Source: Mashable

Yes, yes, you were not mistaken. They organized a lottery, which is usually used to raise funds for charity at school evenings, but the main prize was the whole island. And quite large. The winner was announced on July 26, and so far it is only known that his name is Joshua.

The lottery was announced in April on the resort's website and on the YouTube channel, and the owners of the island encouraged people from all over the world to buy tickets and get a chance to start a new life on the island.

The island of Kosra with a population of more than 6.5 thousand people is one of several small islands that are part of the Federated States of Micronesia. The 16-room Kosrae Nautilus Resort was owned by the Beitz family, who managed it for almost 20 years. The new owner will receive a four-room house, five cars for rent, a truck and two ten-seater vans for nature trips.

This is what this paradise in the middle of the ocean looks like:

The Beitz family has issued 55 thousand lottery tickets, the minimum number for the lottery. Their combined revenue from the sale of tickets for 49 Australian dollars was 2.6 million Australian dollars, which is not bad at all.

The owners of the island wanted to give the opportunity to own the island to a person for whom such a dream would never become a reality. In an interview with a news outlet news.com.au they said, "We think with this lottery we will be able to transfer the island into the hands of not a millionaire, but a person like us."

Joshua was the lucky one.