The winner of a competition run by Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree has scored themselves a $5,500 holiday to Port Douglas.

Charmaine Wood, a 26 year old cake decorator from the Gold Coast, is ecstatic about returning to the region she last visited with her husband to celebrate their wedding anniversary in 2009.

“I still can’t believe I’ve won,” she said.  “I entered because I got an email from someone and just followed the instructions thinking ‘wow, it would be great to go back to Port Douglas’ and I never imagined I would be the winner in my wildest dreams.”

“We really loved our first trip there. We went snorkeling on the reef and visited the rainforest at Cape Tribulation,” she said. 

The next time they visit, the family will be larger.  “Having had a baby a year ago, this will be such a treasured experience for us as a new family,” said Ms Wood. 

The online competition received over 4000 entries

“Our strategy was to use the competition to boost interest in the destination during the low season when people are researching and planning travel options,” said executive officer Doug Ryan. 

“The competition increased visitation to - tracked TPDD>www.tpdd.com.au by 82% over the same period last year which was an excellent result. One of the highest number of referrals were directly from Tourism Port Douglas Daintree’s Facebook page,” he said.

The Wood's prize includes:

• 5 nights at the luxury 5 star Thala Beach Lodge, Port Douglas, valued at $2175
• 15 minute scenic flight on Skysafari valued at $220
• Great Barrier Reef diving trip with Calypso Reef Cruises valued at $630
• Cape Tribulation and Daintree Tour with Daintree Discovery Tours valued at $346
• Kitesurfing lesson with Windswell valued at $440
• 2 nights accommodation at Ferntree Rainforest Lodge, Cape Tribulation
• Jungle Surfing Canopy adventure tour valued at $180
• Exotic Fruit tasting and farm tour at Cape Tribulation Exotic Fruit Farm valued at $40
• 4WD Bloomfield Track Waterfall Safari with Mason's Tours valued at $270
• Reef and Rainforest Horse riding tour with Ride the Beach Wonga Beach valued at $230
• Mossman Gorge guided rainforest walk with Kuku Yulanji Dreamtime valued at $77