It was all part of Mr Abbott’s ongoing efforts to promote the new film Oddball and, in turn, the city of Warrnambool.

While showing off the local sites to the media, he bumped into a family walking along the beach and struck up a conversation.

“They said they saw an early screening of Oddball on Thursday and the kids couldn’t stop talking about it,” Mr Abbott told The Standard at Sunday night’s Warrnambool premiere.

“So they drove down from Melbourne for the weekend to see where Oddball came from.”

It’s exactly the kind of response he hopes the film will generate among people around Australia when it has its nationwide release on Thursday. 

Indeed, it’s a response that Mr Abbott hopes will spread around the world as Oddball slowly reaches the international markets its producers are targeting. 

“Hopefully it’s got that X factor,” he said.

“The website traffic is already going up. I think from a tourism point  of view it’s going to have an impact.”

Mr Abbott said he believed Warrnambool had the capacity and infrastructure to deal with what he hoped would be a major tourist influx over the coming months.

“We’re trying to get operators motivated to have Oddball packages and some are already on board.

“If destination marketing means anything, this film is the best destination marketing I’ve ever seen in Australia.

“The scenery looks amazing and it sells Warrnambool wonderfully.”

Mr Abbott said he has seen the film many times already and described it as enjoyable fun for all ages.

The release of the film has been accompanied by a massive media push that has included feature articles in major papers and magazines around Australia, as well as coverage on free-to-air TV and National Geographic.

Callum Watson, assistant manager at Warrnambool’s Capitol Cinema, said they were preparing for big crowds at screenings once the film opens on Thursday.

“There’s been a heap of interest and a heap of enquiries,” Mr Watson said.

Tickets went on sale Tuesday afternoon.