7 weeks until departure: Mumbrella announces 2025 Travel Marketing Awards shortlist

BY Matthew Leong

July 9, 2025 10:00

7 weeks until departure: Mumbrella announces 2025 Travel Marketing Awards shortlist

With the awards set for August 28, the shortlisted nominees for Mumbrella’s Travel Marketing Awards have been named.

Fred&Co Digital Advertising — which secured two wins in last year’s awards for its ‘Where Time Does Wonders’ campaign — has received nominations in the same categories it won in 2024: Ad Campaign of the Year and Breakthrough Destination of the Year.

It is being recognised for its ‘Give the Kimberley a Crack’ work with Big Head Digital and Leonards Advertising Media for Australia’s North West.

The 2024 winner for PR Idea of the Year, Havas Red, has been shortlisted in the following three categories: PR Agency of the Year, Best Use of Data, and Best Celebrity or Influencer Campaign, with the latter two being shared with Booking.com for their collaboration, ‘The Booking.com Cosmic Cabin: Star Powered Stargazing with Dr Matt Agnew’.

The Best Brand Partnership category has several shortlisted works, including Adventure.com’s partnership with Tourism Tasmania and Jeep; Virgin Australia’s Keeping the Footy Flying: The Virgin Australia x AFL Partnership, via Special Group, Enthral PR, MKTG, PHD and Lost in LA Activations; and Sydney Swans Sponsorship 2024 Season from Princess Cruises and Banter.

Notably, the category sees Linkd Tourism nominated twice: one for its Flow Mountain Bike & 99 Bikes campaign for Visit Colorado, and the other for Time Out x ILNY (New York State Division of Tourism).

At the same time, Cairns Airport, Journey Beyond, Tourism Midwest Victoria, Tourism Tasmania, and DesignStreet for American Express are all shortlisted for Travel Marketing Team of the Year.

Tourism Tasmania’s case has been nominated in five categories.

The others — excluding the above-mentioned Best Brand Partnership and Travel Marketing Team of the Year — include Ad Campaign of the Year for its The Off Season: Become a Winter Person collaboration with BMF; and two nominations in the Best Use of Native or Content Marketing category for TasmanAi with BMF and The Off Season with Broadsheet Media and Starcom Australia.

The 2025 Mumbrella Travel Marketing Awards will be held at the Crown, Sydney, after the Travel Marketing Summit.

The full shortlist can be found below:

Best Use of Native or Content Marketing

Connect to Country Magazine – Grin Creative for Tourism Australia – Discover Aboriginal Experiences
Mastery at Sea – BBC Studios with This is Flow for Cunard
‘One & Only in the City’ – Melbourne, As Told By Those Who Live It – City of Melbourne with By All Means, Zenith Australia & AMPR for City of Melbourne
TasmanAi – BMF for Tourism Tasmania
The Off Season – Starcom Australia with Broadsheet Media for Tourism Tasmania

Best Celebrity or Influencer Campaign

Gumbuya World’s Summer of Micro Influencers – Social Soup for Gumbuya World
Klook’s Fandom Tour – Klook Australia & New Zealand with The Attention Seeker & Lucid PR
The Booking.com Cosmic Cabin: Star-Powered Stargazing with Dr Matt Agnew – Havas Red for Booking.com
The Contiki Indoventure – Contiki

Best Brand Partnership

Adventure.com – Tourism Tasmania x Jeep
Keeping the Footy Flying: The Virgin Australia x AFL Partnership – Special Group with PHD, MKTG, Enthral PR & Lost in LA Activations for Virgin Australia
Linkd Tourism with Flow Mountain Bike & 99 Bikes for Visit Colorado
Sydney Swans Sponsorship 2024 Season – Princess Cruises with Banter
Time Out x ILNY – Time Out with Linkd Tourism and ILNY (New York State Division of Tourism)

Best Use of Data

AtlasIQ – In Marketing We Trust for Globus family of brands
Guest Insight Framework & NPS System – Crystalbrook Collection
The Booking.com Cosmic Cabin: From Travel Insights Data to Travel Demand – Havas Red for Booking.com

Social Idea of the Year

Klook’s Fandom Tour – Klook Australia & New Zealand with The Attention Seeker & Lucid PR

Best Campaign with a Small Budget

April Fools – KWP+Partners with Crocosaurus Cove for Airport Development Group (Darwin International Airport)
Cuckoo for Labubu – PassportCard Travel Insurance with SCPR
Eat Your Heart Out – Example for QT Hotels & Resorts
Take 25% OFF – KWP+Partners for Tourism Top End
The Oldest Lift Bar – Example for InterContinental Sydney

Award for Bravery and Innovation

The Esperance Promise – Australia’s Golden Outback and The Shire of Esperance
WhatsApp Claims – PassportCard Travel Insurance

Publication of the Year

Adventure.com by Intrepid Travel
Dream by Luxury Escapes
get lost Magazine – Grin Creative

Ad Campaign of the Year

Give the Kimberley a Crack – Fred&Co Digital Advertising with Big Head Digital & Leonards Advertising Media for Australia’s North West
Live The Legend – Contiki
‘That’s how we fly’ – Air New Zealand with Montoya, iProspect, Bastion Shine & Reel Factory for Air New Zealand
The Off Season: Become a Winter Person – BMF for Tourism Tasmania
Visit Ballarat – Brilliantly Unexpected – Tourism Midwest Victoria with Einwick for Visit Ballarat

PR Idea of the Year

Cuckoo for Labubu – PassportCard Travel Insurance with SCPR
Pesto the Penguin Chick by Merlin Entertainments
Visit Ballarat ‘The Unexpect-o-matic’ – City of Ballarat/ Tourism Midwest Victoria with Graffiti for Visit Ballarat
“Welcome to the West” – Eight Communications for PARKROYAL Parramatta

Breakthrough Destination of the Year

Give the Kimberley a Crack – Fred&Co Digital Advertising with Big Head Digital & Leonards Advertising Media for Australia’s North West
Go with Amex – American Express and DesignStreet
Palau. Pristine Paradise – GTI Tourism for Palau Visitors Authority
Turning a City Into a State: How Awareness of New York Is Growing, Both in the Boroughs, and Beyond – Linkd Tourism for New York State Division of Tourism

PR Agency of the Year