Tourism is worth $170 billion to the Australian economy. Which means Susan Coghill oversees one of the most significant, but also highly scrutinised brands a marketer could ever touch: Australia.

“With over 350,000 individual businesses, employing over 650,000 people, I’ve learnt tourism is the ultimate team sport,” she comments, summing up her style as CMO in three words: “Creative, collaborative and indefatigable”.

Coghill’s role is a true global CMO role, spanning 16 international markets and a wide array of stakeholders. These include the Tourism Minister, federal bodies, state and regional tourism organisations, 350,000 tourism operators and 650,000 employees, 200+ trade and airline partners and nearly 27 million brand owners around the country.

“I’ve worked hard to foster an open, inspiring and collaborative culture where curiosity and learning is a core part of our DNA. A team that relies not just on its talent, but engages more deeply with travellers and operators to share the very best of Australian tourism with the world,” Coghill says.

Effective marketing strategy

Which is why she’s so committed to long-term brand building and effectiveness with the ‘Come and Say G’day’ platform. “This entry isn’t about a shiny new campaign but about proving the power of consistency and long-term results for Australia’s vital tourism industry,” says Coghill.

To do this, Tourism Australia reprioritised top-of-funnel investment to attract high-yielding travellers to Australia. “This sharpened our global strategy, ensuring focus on attentive reach over short-term tech distractions that lacked scale,” Coghill says.

Tourism Australia had long bounced from campaign to campaign. After the Black Summer bushfires and Covid-19, the industry needed a lasting strategic shift. “We deliberately created an enduring brand platform that builds memory structures and shapes future travel decisions. For ultra-long-haul trips like Australia, where planning takes years, this long-term approach is essential,” she continues.

Five overarching marketing effectiveness principles were put into play:

1. Define the challenge: Australia was lost in a sea of sameness.
2. Double down on Distinctive Assets: Paul Hogan’s ‘Come and Say G’Day’ strapline and our national icon, the kangaroo.
3. Invest where it matters: Refocus on top-of-funnel marketing.
4. Be market oriented: Design for the end consumer, not Australians.
5. Play the long-game: Embrace the multiplier effect of consistency.

The campaign was about refreshing perceptions of Australian uniqueness through place, people and product. It also defined brand Australia’s positioning as ‘The destination that sparks Genuine Connections’.

As Coghill puts it, the outcome of ‘Come and Say G’Day’ “is a tourism bounce back for the ages”. Visitor growth is 172 per cent higher than category, while spend-per-trip up 9.9 per cent. Total international visitor expenditure grew to a record $48.4bn. This has translated into $2.7bn in annual incremental tourism expenditure and 30 per cent lift in consideration.

As well as being a top performing campaign in System1 pre-testing, with five Effies in the UK and US under its belt so far, the campaign delivered an ROI across priority markets of 14:1. Australia’s global travel ranking skyrocketed from seventh to fourth, and we’re the number one destination for awareness, consideration, and planning a long-haul trip for high-yielding travellers across must-win markets, the UK, US and China. All this was achieved while defending Australia’s global standing against an influx of well-funded Middle Eastern tourism brands.

Underpinning efforts is a principles-driven destination marketing approach. As Coghill explains, knowing what works for Tourism Australia is particularly difficult given it doesn’t direct transact and therefore lacks a bottom line or direct product sales visibility. Customer convention takes time too thanks to a significant booking lag, and there’s also a network of commercial and state partners working to sell Australian tourism.

All of this prompted Coghill to create the Principles of Tourism Marketing playbook, 10 decision-making principles that have become hardwired into the Tourism Australia organisation to ensure every dollar spent delivers measurable impact.

The 10 Principles are:

Principle 1: Win in consideration. Most travellers choose between 2 to 4 destinations, and Australia often isn’t on the list. To win, we must own the top of the funnel.

Principle 2: Hero competitive experiences. Showcase unexpected, must-visit experiences.

Principle 3: Always be distinctive. Use our strongest assets to create fresh, unmistakably Australian associations.

Principle 4: Be creatively ambitious. Creatively-awarded campaigns are proven to outperform non-awarded campaigns.

Principle 5: Clever investment. Use media strategically to maximise attention with our creative work.

Principle 6: Meaningful impact. Target high-value travellers who drive industry growth.

Principle 7: Maximise broad appeal. Show Australia’s diverse experiences to enhance value and desirability.

Principle 8: Timely delivery. Capitalise on natural travel planning peaks. Knowing and executing against this is critical.

Principle 9: Build a consistent presence. Build long-term brand equity with sustained investment, boosted by tactical activations.

Principle 10: Set partners up for success in conversion. Create demand and build audiences for partners to convert into bookings.

“Unlike other industries with established frameworks, tourism had no universal principles guiding strategy and investment. With unique dynamics – shifting consumer behaviour, seasonality, airline capacity, and geopolitical factors – there is no silver bullet for resource allocation,” Coghill says.

Discerning decision making

All of these inputs assist Coghill as a marketing leader to ruthlessly focus on what matters most to the people Tourism Australia needs to influence. And against the grain, it’s led her to stop a long-in-play martech roadmap in favour of reinvesting back into content.

“In a world of overhyped tech and costly trends that ‘felt right’ just because ‘everyone else is doing it’, I made the tough call to halt a long-followed martech roadmap. Instead, I challenged the team to deeply analyse the real consumer behaviour driving our high-cost tech strategy,” Coghill explains. “Analysis revealed a harsh truth: Destination website usage for trip planning is shockingly low: Just 22 per cent for Eastern and 12 per cent for Western travellers. On-site behaviour confirmed this, with only 6 per cent engaging with our trip planning features.”

The key realisation was destination website planning functionality is less important than the content available.

“Travellers wanted inspiration and practical details, not complex planning. We unplugged underutilised martech [approximately 30 per cent], improved our data layer, cut software contracts, and refreshed our most popular content and formats so they are optimised for crawlability and support our role in the marketing ecosystem, filling the top of the funnel,” says Coghill. “This ‘no regrets’ investment mantra streamlined operations and allowed us to prioritise resonant content, positioning us to embrace emerging technologies like Generative AI and large language models, ensuring we surface our content wherever consumers are – driving long-term competitive advantage.”

Business influence

As CMO of Tourism Australia, Coghill is all too aware of the power she can yield far beyond marketing.

“Our work doesn’t just drive visitation, it shapes Australia’s global reputation, fuels soft power, and turns desirability into global influence. We don’t just sell a destination; we elevate a nation,” she comments. “In a competitive global landscape, being a ‘great place to visit’ isn’t just about tourism, it drives cultural prestige, economic engagement, and global standing.”

Coghill cites several figures to back her claim up: Tourism reputation directly impacts national reputation (92%), intent to visit (98%), and recommendations for working (93%), purchasing (93%), studying (91%), and investing (92%).

‘Come and Say G’Day’ has become so influential, government bodies request to use it for global engagement. For example, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade requested to use TA’s brand character, Ruby the Souvenir Kangaroo, which was launched by Senator Don Farrell, Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism in Canberra, featuring her alongside Japan’s Myaku mascot for Osaka World Expo 2025 to strengthen trade relationships.

 “Major sporting partners –Football Australia, Cricket Australia, and Brisbane 2032 – seek us out, not for funding, but for our platform’s influence. Winning in tourism means building an ecosystem of influence extending far beyond your organisation,” says Coghill.

Data-driven decision making

Being an ex-creative agency person, Coghill will pick creative over data if she’s forced to choose. “But luckily I don’t have to choose in this modern marketing world and there’s an appreciation that data can help inform a great creative idea or how we effectively bring it to market, and data will help us demonstrate the impact of creativity,” she says.

Which is exactly what occurred at Tourism Australia. Having a bold vision is one thing; delivering it is a whole other matter when you have as many stakeholders as Coghill does.

“We’re constantly evolving, integrating new data sources to decode complex markets. This helps us prioritise high-value travellers, time our efforts, and sharpen Australia’s competitive edge,” she says.

Among recent data-driven improvements are merging multiple datasets to build a clear view of the travel funnel, enabling TA marketers to better focus on the consideration stage. Arrivals now exceed forecasts after the launch of ‘Come and Say G’Day’.

Using arrivals data, aviation trends and brand metrics, TA also fine-tuned campaign timing to align with demand and seat availability, ensuring messaging lands when it matters most. In priority markets, it’s using brand data, credit card spend and flight bookings to zero in on the travellers most likely to visit. In the US, targeted regions saw a 5-percentage point lift in consideration to 24 per cent, compared to 19 per cent elsewhere.

Tracking the competition is another priority, and data insights helped justify a South Korea brand investment. “We weighed audience size, aviation access and competitor spend, and it paid off, with Korean leisure arrivals up 143 per cent versus CY2019,” says Coghill.

Data has equally elevated Australia’s appeal. “By understanding what drives destination choice, we’ve fine-tuned our messaging. Come and Say G’Day lifted Australia’s warmth perception to 88 per cent, 13 per cent higher than competitors,” she says. “We’ve identified and then leaned into what makes Australia unique, from G’Day to kangaroos.”

Customer-first thinking

With more than 26 million Australians arguably obsessed with how the rest of the world sees our nation, everyone has an opinion about tourism advertising.

“Fair enough. But the bear trap for the Tourism Australia CMO? Making ads for Aussie media commentators instead of the travellers who actually book trips,” responds Coghill. “As an American-born marketer who’s called Australia my home for 20+ years, I’ve resisted this urge, striving to bring an outside-in perspective. Representing or world-class tourism operators, while reorienting our marketing to the audience that ultimately matters: International travellers.”

This means in addition to the detailed systems and processes which have been highlighted in previous sections, Coghill introduced a rigorous creative testing system across key markets.

“Talking to thousands of people in-market to properly inform us about the efficacy of our work,” she says. “Managing local stakeholder opinions – often less informed on marketing – can be a challenge, but we use this research to defend our position and strengthen industry knowledge.”

Tourism Australia then annually tests in core markets – notably, it’s seeing consistent scores in the top 10 to 1 per cent of ads on System1. “We do this to make 100% sure that we haven’t lost any impact,” adds Coghill.

“For the record, the Australian public and our tourism operators loved it too. Because at the end of the day, what matters isn’t opinion, it’s impact.”

Commercial delivery

Tourism Australia’s commercial North Star is to “grow demand, enabling a competitive and sustainable tourism industry.”

Under Coghill’s leadership, Tourism Australia has driven record-breaking growth and delivered real economic impact. “We shifted from short-term campaigns to ‘Come and Say G’day,’ an enduring platform reinvigorating Australia’s tourism brand. The results speak for themselves,” she says.

For example, in the priority market of the US, high-yield visitor arrivals have exceeded forecasts by 18 per cent, with a $603 increase in average spend per trip. Awareness and consideration jumped by 9 per cent, while core competitors remained flat.

As previously stated, international visitor expenditure grew to a record $48.4bn, with an ROI of 14:1 across markets, as Australia climbed up the travel ranks from seventh to fourth place with a brand value increase of 13 per cent.

People leadership

Coghill’s personal mission, meanwhile, is to create an environment where her team does the best work of their careers. She points to 70 per cent of learning happening through hands-on work.

“Real growth happens in the trenches. Our flat team structure gives everyone ownership, influence, and the chance to contribute from day one. This fuels debate, bold experimentation, and a relentless focus on impact,” she says.

Collaboration and mentorship takes up the next 20 per cent, while the final 10 per cent, formal learning, has been augmented by creation of the Tourism Australia Marketing Academy. This offers staff the Marketing Week Mini-MBA for advanced strategic marketing insights, Advertising Council’s Strategic Planning Program to refine strategic thinking, Senior TA Executive Mentor Program for leadership and career growth, Industry Familiarization Visits for on-the-ground experience with key tourism partners, and financial training to foster closer working relationships between marketing and finance.

“If you ask my team what drives their growth, they’ll tell you: The projects they lead, the experiments they run, the debates we have, and the challenges we push each other to overcome,” concludes Coghill, giving the last word to head of global public relations and advocacy, Nicole Foster:

“Our work is unquestionably better because of Susan. We are braver, we aren’t afraid to have tough conversations and challenge each other to continually improve and exceed. Her leadership has fostered a safe space that drives creative freedom while also pushing us to be a more effective and strategic marketing team.”