Oprah boosts visitors to Australia

Flights to Australia could increase following the recent Oprah Winfrey tour of Australia.

Flights to Australia could increase following the recent Oprah Winfrey tour of Australia.

According to Northern Territory tourism minister Malarndirri McCarthy, the chat-show host has played a crucial part in promoting the attractions of the region, with the tourism board’s website seeing a substantial increase in traffic.

Speaking to e-Travel Blackboard, Ms McCarthy explained that even before the broadcasting of the special Australia shows interest increased from potential visitors.

“The NT website received about 1,000 hits before the show aired and we received 2,000 fans on Facebook from the US,” she added.

The minister added that the long-term impact of the Oprah promotion could bring significant benefits to the region and could attract more flights to Darwin and other cities in the territory.

AirAsia recently increased its flights to Australia following an increase in demand from passengers in the developing Asian tourism market.

Figures show that around 1.403 million people visited the Northern Territory in 2008/09 and tourism accounted for an estimated 10.3 per cent of the region’s economy.

Written by Alex Cochrane.