Qantas Welcomes The Ellen Degeneres Show to Australia

Qantas has welcomed The Ellen DeGeneres Show down under for a 6 day visit that is expected to boost the global profile of Australia as a great place to visit.

Qantas has partnered with Australian company Swisse Wellness, which is bringing The Ellen DeGeneres Show to Australia to film a series of segments screening worldwide in April, as part of the airline's support for tourism.

The talk show host and her crew arrived into Sydney on QF108 from Los Angeles this morning on an A380 temporarily renamed The Ellen DeGeneres Show Express for the 14 hour flight.

Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Alan Joyce, said having the popular show film segments in Victoria and New South Wales was a major coup for tourism.

"Australia has already been a regular feature on The Ellen DeGeneres Show since this trip was announced in January," said Mr Joyce.

"The exposure so far, the coverage from this visit and the segments filmed in Australia to be screened as part of the show is priceless for the tourism industry. It's another way to showcase our everyday culture, natural beauty, iconic wildlife and our sense of humour.

"We are excited to be part of it and thrilled that Ellen, her family and her crew chose to fly with Qantas for her very first trip to Australia," he added.

As part of the original announcement of the visit, Qantas gave each member of The Ellen DeGeneres Show audience on the day a free return trip to Sydney or Melbourne. More than 100 audience members have already booked their flight, with a quarter of them choosing to bring another person.

Audience members were given the ability to pick travel dates that suited them and the average trip duration so far is seven days. More bookings are expected around the November Thanksgiving holiday period in the US.

The United States is a key source market for Australian tourism.

Qantas operates a total of 37 flights a week between Australia and the United States. Bookings from the US during January and February have shown a significant strengthening compared with the same period in the past year.

The Ellen Degeneres Show has a global audience of more than 16 million people in 23 countries.

Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (Q5512)