Tourism Australia has begun a statutory review of its global creative and digital agency roster and is planning to a shift to a "panel model".

M&C Saatchi and Digitas have served as Tourism Australia’s agencies since 2018, winning the accounts from DDB Australia and AKQA, respectively. In 2022, Tourism Australia worked with M&C Saatchi to launch its Come and Say G’day campaign and CHEP to launch its Don’t Go Small, Go Australia campaign. A new panel model is akin to a roster of creative agencies.

Tourism Australia Chief Marketing Officer Susan Coghill said the tourism marketing was constantly evolving and the tourism body needed to evolve its requirements for creative and digital agency services.

“The key factors that attract visitors to Australia have largely remained the same over time, such as our world class natural beauty, people and lifestyle, and have been marketed internationally through a suite of excellent campaigns developed by our creative agencies, including our current ‘Come and Say G’day’ campaign,” Coghill said.

“What we have seen in recent years, more so than at any other time, is just how quickly our external environment can impact the marketing we do and where we need to respond swiftly on multiple fronts at any one time with creative work.

"Moving to a panel approach better reflects the diverse creative and production needs of our business and in particular the integration of digital across all of our marketing."

Tourism Australia said it is open to a range of potential panel types and that this new approach “reflects the unique circumstances facing tourism as it continues to rebuild following the pause in international travel”.

“Tourism Australia has a global footprint that sees us actively marketing Australia to attract international visitors in 15 key markets where our long-standing ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ brand platform has been in place for more than a decade," Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said.

“The change in approach to our global creative and digital services for the future is about giving our organisation the flexibility it needs to respond to a range of scenarios that could emerge in a rapidly changing world.”

Agencies invited to 'Come and Say G'Day'

Mi3 understands that there are no plans to change the current ‘Come and Say G’Day’ platform Tourism Australia, which was rolled out last year in a $125m, two-year marketing blitz to woo Americans, Brits, Germans and multiple markets across Asia, except China.

That creative featured an eight-minute video exhausting every Australian marketing cliche imaginable.

The video stars an animated kangaroo mascot, Ruby, who befriends unicorns in a storyline of adventure and discovery, Hollywood voiceovers by Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Lego Batman) and Australia’s Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, X-Men), The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and “G’day” are all packed into the new campaign from Tourism Australia, M&C Saatchi and Finch.    

A more recent iteration, Holiday Highlights, was released before the FIFA Women’s World Cup. UM is Tourism Australia's media agency and Poem is it PR partner.

Tourism was one of the hardest hit industries by COVID-19 with international visitors dropping 98 per cent and the sector’s contribution to GDP was down almost 50 per cent. The pandemic resulted in 190,000 jobs lost in tourism, and the industry is expected to be one of the last to recover.