Australia – Tourism Australia has launched a competitive tender to secure a media agency partner, or partners, to manage its global media services for the next five years. The national tourism marketing body said the process aims to identify agencies that can help drive international demand for Australia as a travel destination across 16 major source markets.
“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,” said Susan Coghill, Tourism Australia’s chief marketing officer.
“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,” Coghill said.
The tender will run in two stages. The first stage, from September to December 2025, will assess agency capabilities. The second stage, from January to April 2026, will evaluate strategic capabilities and operational structures among shortlisted agencies.
The opportunity will be listed on the Australian Government’s procurement portal, AusTender, at tenders.gov.au, where interested organisations can register for updates.
Tourism Australia’s call for new media partners follows nearly a decade of collaboration with UM, which has handled the organisation’s global media planning and buying since 2016 and was reappointed in 2021 under a five-year contract.
The agency landscape has also shifted on the creative side: M&C Saatchi and Digitas previously held the global creative and digital remit, while a new panel—Accenture Song, The Monkeys and Droga5—was appointed in 2024 for those services.
