Australian government agency, Tourism Australia, says there has been a spike in the number of tour enquiries to the country, since Oprah showed off her visit in January.
According to Tourism Australia, US tourism operators were reporting a big spike in the number of inquiries about holidays to Australia on the back of Oprah’s 'four hour love fest about Australia’ airing in America and Australia in January.
In Australia, the special episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show took out the ratings in its timeslot over the four nights the show aired.
There were 2.4 million viewers on the night of the first show, however US ratings won't be finalised until next week.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 5.9 million visitors during the year ended 31 January 2011, an increase of 5.8 per cent relative to the previous year.
The agency also planned to use its status to help promote Queensland as tourist destination, in the wake of natural disasters that hit the state, towards the end of last year and earlier this year.
Dubbed, ‘Nothing beats Queensland’, the message will be used to promote to Australia and the world as part of a joint $10 million Gillard and Bligh Government global tourism marketing strategy.
Acting Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today announced details of the campaign to support the state’s $9.2 billion tourism industry in the wake of recent natural disasters.
Mr Swan said the campaign will encourage potential visitors by targeting media from around the globe to come to Queensland.
“More than 222,000 people are employed in the tourism sector in Queensland and around 97 per cent of tourism businesses are small or medium enterprises, so it is essential we make a big effort to tell the world that Queensland is open and ready right now to welcome visitors,” he said.
Details of the $10 million domestic and international marketing initiatives include; $4.5 million for interstate marketing, including a brand and retail campaign under the tagline “Nothing beats Queensland – Where Australia Shines” telling Australians that Queensland is open and featuring a range of competitive holiday packages.
This will roll out by in March in time for the peak Easter booking period; $1 million for intrastate marketing encouraging Queenslanders to support their mates by holidaying at home and incorporating a “Queensland Pledge” from the state’s tourism operators to tell the world that that they are staging a comeback.
One million dollars will also go to targeting New Zealanders as Queensland’s largest international market to begin in April; $800,000 for a global youth and adventure traveller campaign aimed at getting backpackers into Queensland to quickly inject new expenditure into Queensland’s destinations. Activity to begin in March; $700,000 for a global publicity blitz which will include bringing more than 100 international and domestic travel writers, news journalists and bloggers to Queensland simultaneously in late March.
Campaign activity will be rolled roll out in phases with the first priority to boost Easter holiday bookings to Queensland by encouraging Queenslanders to support their mates and holiday at home, by inviting their interstate friends and family to visit Queensland and encouraging southerners to take a Queensland getaway.
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