Oprah's Trip "Down Under" Has Australia Footing The $3 Million Bill
NEW YORK (CBS) Oprah Winfrey is going to the land down under, taking her jumping, screaming and crying audience with her... but it sure isn't for free.
The Queen of Talk surprised her studio audience on the premiere of her 25th season by giving some 300 guests a trip to Australia. The country's tourism board will be footing the bill, estimated at $3 million (U.S. $2.8 million), according to published reports.
According to Reuters, Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal and state New South Wales governments would spend more than $3 million helping to bring "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to the country as a way to boost tourism.
Ferguson thinks it will be money well spent, as it the popular daytime show is watched by 40 million Americans and screened in 145 countries.
The tourism minister also went on to say that the tourism board has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 30 years without much of a up-tick in tourism to Australia; adding that the Oprah advertising strategy and the loyalty behind her brand is money well spent.
Winfrey and her guests will be in the country for eight days and seven nights, where she will tape at least two episodes of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," including one at the Sydney Opera House on Dec. 14.
It is the first time the show will have been filmed with its U.S. audience outside North America.
Previously, the famously generous Winfrey has given each audience member a new car, as well as financed a school for girls in South Africa.