Tourism Australia has announced a partnership with Oprah Winfrey which will bring 300 of her US viewers as well as the talk-show queen to Australia. Oprah made the announcement to her audience on Monday’s premiere episode of the farewell season of her show, surprising her audience.

While in Australia, Winfrey will film a minimum of two episodes of the show including one at the iconic Sydney Opera House, which will be transformed on Dec 14th to the “Oprah House.” Australian fans will be invited to be part of the audience.

US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey will bring 300 US viewers to Australia in December

Tourism Australian made the announcement of the partnership at a special press conference this morning (14 Sept).

Winfrey has told her shocked audience, “We’ll sail Sydney Harbour, some will sample shiraz in Aussie wine country and others will shop ’til they drop in trendy Melbourne.”

“We’ll get up close with kangaroos and koalas, kick back on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and experience one of the seven wonders of the world – the Great Barrier Reef.

“Then we’ll all meet at the spectacular Sydney Opera House, where thousands of our Aussie ultimate viewers will join us for an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime Oprah Show experience.”

The event is expected to be a huge boost for Australian tourism.

“For many people around the world, Australia is a dream destination,” said Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia. “Today we turned that dream into a reality for some of Oprah’s ultimate viewers. We are excited to show them and Oprah’s global audience why there really is nothing like Australia.”

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said Oprah’s arrival would mean the program’s weekly following of 40 million American viewers, as well as the viewers in the 145 countries the show is aired in would put Australia on the world stage.

“Oprah is a global household name and her star power has the potential to lift Australia’s profile as a premier tourist destination,” he said.

The specially-chosen audience of 300 will be flown via Qantas from the US for eight days of all-expense- paid holiday by celebrity pilot actor John Travolta.