Hamilton Island's warm marine welcome to Oprah and entourage

by Jeni Bone on 11 Dec 2010 Hamilton Island, long the dream destination for boaties and the water-obsessed, is still recovering from the attention and adulation from the visiting media magnate, Oprah Winfrey and 93 of her 300 viewers who travelled with her to Australia.

The first destination on the whirlwind tour, which it is hoped will spur on the US and international tourists to our shores, Hamilton Island put its pitch to Oprah’s people, the Harpo Production company, and were thrilled when they were scheduled first.

'It was pure luck,' says Phillipa Harrison, General Manager of Sales at Hamilton Island. 'We have our own airport on Hamilton Island, so that helped. We also described the plan for a sunset beach party on Whitehaven Beach which they couldn’t resist.'

The soiree involved a feast on Australia seafood and other succulent produce, under the guidance of Oprah’s favourite Aussie chef and regular on her show, Curtis Stone.

Dinner was also served in the superbly designed Yacht Club, a creation of whimsy that is idyllically situated with views over the water.

According to Phillipa, the guests were entranced. 'They loved it. That was something we heard a lot of over the two days. They were wowed by everything, from koalas to the views.'

The weather, which had been topical and wet, miraculously cleared and the sun shone on the US guests as they dined, went sight-seeing, out to the Reef to dive and swim and generally enjoy the bounties of island and the Great Barrier Reef.

Some of the visitors had never even seen the sea, so the expanse of ocean, replete with teeming sealife and corals, would have been mind-expanding, if not 'life-changing' as many of them attested.

The Oatley family has owned Hamilton Island for the past seven years and spent around $300m to upgrade and develop its internationally renowned facilities, including the Yacht Club and 5-star retreat Qualia.

With a signature design by Australian architect Walter Barda, the Yacht Club’s aquamarine copper sails reflect Hamilton Island’s Whitsundays surroundings and celebrate the sheer exhilaration of yachting.

Hamilton Island Yacht Club is the base for Australia’s largest offshore yachting regatta, the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week each August.

The Federal and NSW Governments hope the $5m investment in bringing Oprah and her 150 crew and 300 viewers to this country will result in a much-needed momentum for our tourism industry.

'We are very pleased to have been the only Great Barrier Reef location,' says Phillipa. 'Previously Cairns was seen as the gateway to the Reef, but this exercise has repositioned Hamilton Island and shown that we are a great place to start your exploration of the Reef.'

Phillipa declares the visit 'absolutely worth it', but she is emphatic that the Oprah visit was not considered 'a golden ticket' to tourism promotion.

'We won’t be resting on our laurels. Domestic tourism is very important to us and I think this visit has shed a lot of light on to Hamilton Island as the wonder that it is. We were one of the four destinations Oprah chose, so we are definitely on the ‘must see list’ now, whether that’s for Australians or overseas visitors.'

The Oprah Winfrey Show reaches 40 million viewers in the US alone, and screens in another 145 countries including key Australian tourism markets such as Germany and Britain. This was the first time the show has been shot outside of North America.

Federal tourism minister Martin Ferguson said visitor numbers grew 3 per cent last year and the proportion of visitors from the US to Australia was increasing.

Tourism Australia is planning a round of co-operative and trade marketing activity to launch in the US in January, leading up to the G'day USA promotion which takes place at the same time.

More at www.hamiltonisland.com.au