Australia's peak tourism body fears the nation's borders may remain shut until mid-next year, and has asked for help keeping it front of mind in the UK while high-value British tourists are barred.
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Tourism Australia has offered PR agencies the chance to sell the country in the UK market, despite Australia's borders remaining shut to tourists for the foreseeable future.
British tourists are currently barred from entering Australia but can travel to swathes of Europe, while the US has begun bilateral talks on lifting its own travel ban.
The UK was Australia's fourth-largest source of tourism in 2019, the year before COVID-19 decimated international travel
TA estimated there were around 8 million "high value travellers", who travel for incentive and reward travel programs as well as working holiday makers, in the country.
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But with TA conceding borders may remain shut until mid-2022, applicants must show how they would "maintain Australia's share of voice" in the UK in the interim.
Applicants are also confronted with a scenario in which the federal government gives just two weeks notice before reopening to British tourists.
"What would you do to maximise this opportunity for Australia, from both a political issues management and creative standpoint?" it asks.
A TA spokesperson described the scenarios as "purely hypothetical", saying they would encourage an ability to respond in a fast-changing environment.
"Tourism Australia maintains a PR presence in key international markets to ensure that Australia remains top of mind as a desirable destination, to ensure that the pent-up demand for travel converts to bookings as soon as borders reopen," they said.
"For the purposes of business planning Tourism Australia, like all organisations, continues to prepare for various scenarios for the reopening of international travel."
They said the tender followed the "normal business process" with the current contract to expire within months.
The successful bidder will be expected to leverage the "channels, techniques tools and thinking" across traditional and social media platforms.
The contract will be awarded in mid-October and commence the following month.
TA has already begun laying the groundwork for the resumption of travel, in April launching its "Be the First" campaign in New Zealand in preparation for the trans-Tasman travel bubble.
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