The Gurus Explore is a successful Australian television show in which a team of presenters travel around the world exploring tourist destinations and gardens with the help of tourist authorities, presenter Neville Passmore said.
They teamed up with Tourism Dunedin and filmed in Dunedin over the weekend before heading south to Invercargill via the Catlins.
The resulting one-hour show will screen on Australia's Channel 9 between October and December.
The estimated value of the programme and related media opportunities, which include online screening of the show for 12 months and a Dunedin advertisement in Explore Magazine, is estimated to be worth $2.7 million.
The show aimed to "get tourism going in the area" and "expose the region", Mr Passmore said.
A one-hour television show was able to "show a lot".
The crew, which included two other presenters, Nigel Ruck from another Australian gardening show Backyard Blitz, and Geraldine Chia, filmed at Larnach Castle, Speight's Brewery, the Chinese Garden, Saturday's Anzac service and on the Monarch and Natures Wonders tours.
"It's a fabulous journey of discovery," Mr Passmore said.
Southern sites to be visited included Curio Bay, Invercargill city, Bluff and Stewart Island.
Tourism Dunedin chief executive officer Hamish Saxton was pleased to have the show come to Dunedin.
"It's an excellent opportunity to profile Dunedin in the Australian market by engaging directly with consumers through multiple media platforms."
Tourism Dunedin hosted the crew and helped arrange visits to filming locations.
The organisation paid a "small contribution" of about $5000 to the show and Mr Saxton estimated the value of media exposure to be worth up to $100,000 with huge potential to attract more tourists to Dunedin.
The Gurus Explore filmed one of its first shows in Korea.
After that aired, tourist numbers increased about 30% for about eight months.
"It played a significant role in bulking up the numbers," Mr Passmore said.
Korean tourist authorities invited the show back three times due to the "phenomenal response" it received.
