The Best Semester Abroad campaign will pay for 20 international student winners to spend a semester studying in the Australian state.

The competition is open to students from Chile, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy and Spain. Winners will have costs of their fees, flights, accommodation and other experiences covered to the value of A$30,000.

“This exciting new campaign is a fantastic and innovative way to showcase Queensland’s exceptional education and training institutions to the world”

Five of the 20 winners will also receive a further A$30,000 towards degree study in Queensland.

The sponsorship money has been donated by 36 education and training providers in the region.

“This exciting new campaign is a fantastic and innovative way to showcase Queensland’s exceptional education and training institutions to the world,” said Jackie Trad, deputy premier and minister for trade and investment.

To enter, students must upload a video explaining why they want to study in Queensland, promote the video on social media and receive over 100 votes on the competition’s website. Winners will be chosen in July to begin their semester in October.

International education and training is worth $2.9bn to Queensland, making it the state’s second biggest export.

Last year, 62,300 students from overseas started their studies in Queensland, with 103,300 enrolments in total.

Trad said there is “enormous potential” to grow the sector further.

“Deloitte Access Economics estimates that if we can boost Queensland’s share of Australia’s international student enrolments by 4%, the sector would be worth $7.5bn in export earnings annually by 2026, creating an extra 6,800 jobs,” she commented.

The efforts to boost international enrolments coincide with a nation-wide effort to increase overseas students in the country to over 720,000.