Tourism Australia isn’t planning on kicking its shoes off and celebrating the mountain of publicity Oprah Winfrey’s visit to Australia garnered, they are moving fast to convert the attention in to tourism dollars.

“The Oprah screenings provide an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the best of our country to people in Australia and many of the other 145 countries where the show will be broadcast, especially the US where the show is watched by 40 million viewers alone,” says Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia.

McEvoy says Tourism Australia plan to capitalize on the coverage by using it as a promotional platform for sales directed campaigns to entice holidaymakers down under. 

“Working alongside our industry partners, we’re putting some outstanding deals into the market, which we believe will help convert some of the excitement surrounding the airing of the shows into firm holiday bookings,” he said.

Tourism Australias promotions

‘The Great Aussie Sale’ – Tourism Australia has partnered with the American retail and online travel industry and State and Territory partners to offer more than 100 value-added vacation packages to Australia, including every State and Territory. Runs between 18 January and 13 February;

One Week Walkabout – joint campaign with Qantas, targeting time poor west coast Americans with a special airfare and ‘walkabout’ pass, opening up a range of Australian destinations which can be visited in just a week;

Targeting the US youth market by promoting the Australian working holiday visa for under 30 year olds and through social media;

Participation at business events and seminars across the US to maximise the appeal of Australia as a meetings, conference and incentive destination.

Domestically, Tourism Australia is spending AU$1.5 million on the Ultimate Aussie Holiday Sale, which will run throughout Australia between 19 January and 27 February and include TV advertising during each of the four special Oprah shows as well as radio, newspaper, online and outdoor ads.

Tourism Australia is also working on a range of targeted marketing activity in other key markets where “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is broadcast, including the UK, New Zealand and Canada.

What do you think? Will Oprah’s glowing endorsement of Australia be enough to make more Americans holiday in Australia, despite their weak dollar. Comment below or get in touch with us on Twitter via @Marketingmag.