Tropical Island Retreat Could Be Yours For £37

A slice of Pacific paradise is up for grabs with a tropical island resort being offered as a raffle prize.

The lucky winner of the draw being made on Tuesday stands to win the exclusive 16-room retreat, which lies some 3,000 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Australian couple Doug and Sally Beitz decided to raffle the Kosrae Nautilus Resort instead of selling it on the open market, and hope whoever holds the winning £37 ticket loves warm weather, which is guaranteed.

The pair moved to the remote Micronesian island of Kosrae in the 1990s and are now keen to return home to Australia to spend more time with their grandchildren.

Mr Beitz said: "We've tried to market it in a way where we are attracting people like ourselves."

He said he hoped the winner would be "someone who likes warm weather, likes meeting new people from around the world, is adventurous. It's a big life change."

The tropical island, which lies north of the Solomon Islands, is home to about 6,500 people.

The competition website says the resort, which is popular for diving and fishing, is debt-free and profitable.

The prize includes the manager's four-bedroom residence, five rental cars, two 10-seater vans, a pick-up truck and the resort restaurant.

The family originally said a minimum of 50,000 tickets would need to be sold for the contest to go ahead, but that figure has now been passed by at least 3,000, and they stand to make more than £2m from the raffle.

Mr and Mrs Beitz's son, Adam, said it was his idea to stage a raffle to allow someone else the chance to live in paradise and run their own business.