40 Under 40 2020: Nicole Foster, Tourism Australia

Nicole Foster

Global advocacy and talent manager 
Tourism Australia 
Australia

Nicole Foster has had a glowing decade at Tourism Australia, and not only because of the star-studded company she keeps. With Tourism Australia’s global advocacy program resting on her shoulders, Foster has a proven track record of juggling media relations across 17 markets while creatively collaborating with social influencers and international celebrities for marketing campaigns.

One feather she recently added to her cap: managing talent relationships with some of the biggest celebrities from Australia, including Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe and Chris Hemsworth for Tourism Australia’s AU$36 million (approximately US$26 million) marketing campaign in the US, ‘Dundee’. Hemsworth called it “far more successful than any film” he had ever made, as ‘Dundee’ hit 15,000 media articles, over 200 million social views, and an uplift of 35% in flight search. It also emerged as the most-watched US Super Bowl campaign and won eight Cannes Lions.

The former journalist started her career in marketing and PR with Avviso Public Relations in 2008, leading the agency’s pitch to win Tourism Australia as an account. In 2011, she jumped to the Tourism Australia ship as its advocacy and content manager. In nine years, she has climbed the ranks to sit as the current global advocacy and talent manager.

Foster has a way with celebrities. The Friends of Australia advocacy program she launched for Tourism Australia has brought on well-known Australians including Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Curtis Stone. These celebrity partnerships, coupled with her dexterity in media relations, bring in multiple millions of dollars worth of earned reach every year.  Foster also manages Tourism Australia’s Global Ambassador Chris Hemsworth, leveraging his social posts to generate over 110 media articles and reached 1.1 billion people this year.

Besides navigating relationships with brand ambassadors, Foster also has Tourism Australia’s Restaurant Australia campaign on her plate. Her strategies for the campaign include delivering individual launch events in 15 key global markets, including a pop-up restaurant in London’s Australia House, food trucks in Paris, and a long-table dinner in Tokyo. She also invited influential chefs and media to a gala dinner in MONA in Tasmania, thus pumping an additional AU$500 million (approximately US$364 million) to the food and wine sector.