Man wins Pacific island resort in raffle

An Australian couple who raffled off their tropical island resort have picked a winner.

Doug and Sally Beitz spent two decades developing the 16-room Kosrae Nautilus Resort in Micronesia, before deciding to sell it off by raffle this month.

The Gold Coast couple gave it all – staff and scuba diving business included – to the winner who bought a ticket for A$66 ($71). Known only as Joshua, the winner was announced on Tuesday in a live auction that was streamed online, the BBC reported.

Joshua was one of 50,000 people from 100 countries around the world who bought a ticket.

When the couple tracked him down, there were huge cheers when Joshua said he was from Australia.

The aim was to give the island to someone who wasn’t a millionaire. ‘‘We weren’t highly educated people when we came here, just average, basic people,’’ Doug told news.com.au.

‘‘We think, with the raffle, we can hopefully leave the island in the hands of someone who’s not a millionaire, but in the hands of someone who’s just like us.’’

Kosrae is a small island in Micronesia with a population of 6500. It’s home to an international airport, schools, a thriving tourism industry, and a volcano.

The island was occupied by more than 8000 Japanese troops in World War II. Remnants from their stay can still be found by intrepid tourists.