Taylor Swift’s holiday in Queensland will be more valuable to tourism than Oprah, Ellen and Modern Family

FORGET Oprah. Forget Ellen. And forget Modern Family. They’ve got nothing on Taylor Swift when it comes to boosting Queensland’s tourism coffers.

TAYLOR Swift’s holiday in the Whitsundays and Hamilton Island will be more valuable to Queensland than the visits of Oprah Winfrey, Ellen, and the cast of hit TV show Modern Family.

The world’s biggest music star spent most of the past week relaxing in Queensland as part of a mini-break during the Australian leg of her 1989 world tour.

Whitsundays tourism operators predict the spin-off from Swift’s holiday will eclipse the previous famous visitors. Oprah’s “Great Australian Adventure” in 2010 generated an estimated $20m in bookings, while the episode of Modern Family filmed on Hayman Island reached a global audience of 125 million.

Experts say the exposure Swift gave the holiday mecca will be a multi-million dollar boost for the region.

Swift, with a star power that is priceless as the queen of Instagram (55.4 million followers) and Twitter (60 million followers), posted about her time in the Sunshine State.

Whitsunday Escape’s Alita De Brincat said the endorsement value by the songstress was invaluable, and for aspiring tourists it had put the entire region “top of mind”. There had already been a spike of new bookings.

“People see her coming here and they want to experience life where the rich and famous go to holiday too,’’ the bareboat charter operator said. “It opens the doors worldwide. She is, arguably, the biggest, highest celebrity hit we’ve had here.”

Oprah Winfrey visited Hamilton Island during her visit to Australia in 2010. PIC: Brian Cassey

Swift posed for countless selfies and posted a snap hanging out with Willy, a koala, alongside mum Andrea and brother Austin. She smelled the flowers with her crew and spent time making friends with a cockatoo and a roo.

Hamilton Island chief executive Glenn Bourke said the Whitsundays had become a holiday “destination of choice for high-profile ­celebrities”.

Swift posted a heartfelt tribute to her tour crew.

She wrote: “So stoked to be able to take my band and crew on a vacation at the end of a long and wonderful tour.

“For all their hard work this year, they really deserve it. Thank you to Hamilton Island for taking such great care of 125 of the people who work tirelessly to make sure the 1989 World Tour stage gets built, the lights are on, the costumes are made, the guitars are tuned, and the show goes on.”