US Visitors flock to Sydney Following Visit by The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Sydney | Published on 5th July 2013 at 12:03

Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris, today announced that the initial results for Destination NSW and Qantas joint marketing campaign promoting NSW through The Ellen DeGeneres Show has delivered immediate benefits.

“The Qantas and Destination NSW campaign, Dance Your Way Down Under, increased inbound ticket sales from the USA to Sydney by 22 per cent compared to normal levels,” Mr Souris said.

“The campaign, which includes television commercials in Los Angeles and New York during screening of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, has delivered immediate results for NSW and is a great return on investment in promoting our state to North American audiences.”

The Dance Your Way Down Under campaign, which was in market from April to June in the United States, comes off the back of a five day visit to Australia in March by the talk show superstar and her team to film segments for The Ellen DeGeneres Show as part of a trip for Swisse Wellness and Qantas.

“The campaign also features online marketing in the US and to date has delivered more than 62 million impressions on Qantas websites and almost 220,000 total sales leads for business and services throughout NSW.” Mr Souris said.

“Visitors from the United States who booked their travel with Qantas via the Dance Your Way Down Under campaign plan to stay 12 nights on average, enjoying the best that NSW has to offer and contributing to the NSW Visitor Economy,” Mr Souris said.

Destination NSW CEO, Sandra Chipchase, said “This impressive return on investment for the Dance Your Way Down Under campaign is one of many great marketing, packaging and public relations tools, developed jointly by Destination NSW and Qantas.”

“Destination NSW’s three year partnership with Qantas will ensure that NSW is promoted to audiences in our key international markets, delivering economic benefits to tourism operators, services and the NSW economy.”