Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has been swept of her feet by her brush with royalty:
The visit to Canberra by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has generated incredible media exposure around the world, valued conservatively at well over $35 million.
As the Canberra leg of the Royal visit draws to a close, ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher said the overwhelmingly positive media coverage had reached all corners of the globe, with national and international media outlets covering key highlights of the stay in Australia’s national capital.
“This Royal visit has presented Canberra with an incredible opportunity to showcase our wonderful city to Australia and the world, attracting unparalleled media interest in our beautiful city,” Ms Gallagher said.
“The images of the Royal Couple on Lake Burley Griffin and at Floriade in our beautiful spring sunshine last week were simply priceless in terms of promoting Canberra’s image to a global audience.
“The breadth of the media coverage has been quite remarkable, with more than 20,000 news stories appearing in print, broadcast and online media world-wide – and that number is expected to rise considerably as further analysis is completed.
“In addition to the extensive, daily national coverage across Australia, the visit to Canberra has featured prominently in many overseas markets including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Africa, the Middle East and the United States.”
Ms Gallagher said last week’s private tour of Floriade, including the Royal Couple’s spectacular arrival on the Admiral’s Barge, was given prominent coverage in all media. Floriade was trending globally on Twitter immediately after the Queen’s visit last Thursday.
Other highlights included Her Majesty’s airport arrival in Canberra, formal events at Government House, Parliament House and the Royal Military College, Duntroon, the visit to St. John’s Church on Sunday and yesterday’s final engagement at the Australian War Memorial.
“The visit was covered by all spectrums of the media, from the high profile BBC, CNN, The Guardian and Daily Telegraph (UK), The New York Times and Washington Post to lesser known news outlets such as the Himalayan Times, Brunei Times, Kenya Star and Denver Times,” Ms Gallagher said.
“While it is too early to quantify the exact value of the media exposure generated by the Royal Visit, I expect it will be even higher and it should benefit the local tourism industry for some time to come.
If only Jon Stanhope had a grave in which to turn.