As the announcement of the winner of Tourism Australia’s global account attracts the expected criticism from other agencies involved, the Federal Opposition has warned it will “closely monitor” the handling of the business
The Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey announced on Friday that M&C Saatchi and Carat had been appointed to the creative and media parts of the global account following a review that began in February.
The Shadow Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson, has responded to the announcement with a statement labelling the process to award the contracts as “long-winded” and a “long time coming”.
Ferguson’s office called for Bailey in May to submit the tender process for account to a probity audit following concerns from the advertising industry about the process. An audit was conducted by KPMG.
In a statement today Ferguson said the “true test of the process now is in the success of the companies selected in delivering value for money to the Australian tourism industry and the broader Australian community, particularly in relation to creative M&C Saatchi”.
“The Opposition will closely monitor the delivery of the advertising campaigns, and will judge its success in terms of visitor numbers, tourism yield, employment and training in the industry, and export.
“The move to global contracts (for creative and media buy) is a significant change, which we are told will deliver greater accountability. The Opposition will watch this closely”.
