Oprah effect continues with New South Wales seeing tourism spike

There have been huge increases in the number of US inquiries about holidays to New South Wales on the back of Oprah Winfrey’s Australian adventure TV special, the NSW state government has said.

Australian Embassy

Sydney and NSW are experiencing a spike in interest from US travellers.

The NSW government's www.sydney.com website has also seen a 33 per cent spike in hits since the first of the Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure episodes aired last week.

NSW Tourism Minister Jodi McKay said: “I'm advised that Qantas Vacations in the United States has experienced a 250 per cent increase in visits to their website, a 25 per cent increase in phone calls and a 30-40 per cent increase in quote requests, with much of this activity focused on Sydney”.

"This is expected to lead to an increase in bookings of up to 20 per cent in January alone and this figure could go much higher in the coming months."

Oprah's trip down under will now be broadcast in up to 145 countries around the world following its US and Australian debuts.

The NSW government will build on the publicity generated by the Oprah TV specials to help market the www.sydney.com and www.visitnsw.com websites.

To travel to Australia, unless you have an Australian or New Zealand passport, all overseas visitors must have an Australian travel visa. The most popular of these is the ETA Visa, as it can be quickly and easily applied for online.

The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Australia Visa application with Australian Embassy.