Tourism Australia takes media account to pitch
Tourism Australia has taken its global media account to pitch, as it looks for a partner, or partners, to help it grow in 16 major source markets overseas.
As per government procurement processes, the tender was announced via AusTender on Wednesday afternoon. The contract will be five years.
IPG Mediabrands’ UM is the incumbent on the account, having held it since 2016. In 2021, it was reappointed for another five year period, structured as a three-year deal with two one-year extensions.
That same year, UM also retained the Australian Government master media agency contract. That partnership was again extended last year.
Tourism Australia’s chief marketing officer, Susan Coghill, said the tender is a priority for the organisation’s destination marketing, with the goal of finding a partner who can “meet its objectives to grow demand”.
Susan Coghill spoke at the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit last month
“This process is about building a best-in-class media services partnership to market Australia’s compelling tourism offering at scale, whilst navigating disruption in the media ecosystem, and inspiring travellers to choose Australia across key international markets,” she said in a release.
“With the global media landscape continuing to evolve, demonstrated leadership in data, technology, and creative media thinking, as well as guidance on emerging platforms and changing consumer behaviours are important factors.
“We’re aiming to select an agency partner, or partners, to deliver media services across our international network at consistently high standards to meet the immediate and future demands of our business.”
The tender will be run in two stages, according to the AusTender announcement. The first, broadly on agency capabilities, will run from September to December 2025. The second will focus more closely on strategic capabilities and operational structure with shortlisted agencies between January and April 2026.
Coghill recently spoke at the Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit, sharing that Australia’s tourism campaigns aren’t just competing with other countries for your attention, but with what the called “the content jungle”.
She said this is where cycles of salience — a term she admitted sounded like terrible market jargon — come into play.
The tourism body also recently launched its latest global campaign, creating bespoke ads in five key markets rather than one blanket piece of creative for the first time. It marked the first major piece of work from Droga5, which won Tourism Australia’s creative account last year. UM managed the media buying and planning for the campaign.
An industry briefing will be held next Wednesday at the Museum of Sydney for agencies interested in taking part in the tender.
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