Aussie website Mumbrella says an unnamed Australian ad agency has won the pitch for Canterbury Tourism. The pitch which has been labelled NZ’s most challenging brief of 2012, attracted nearly 50 expressions of interest from all over the world.

The final confirmation is expected any day.

A spokesperson for Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism told Mumbrella: “This was wonderful response and far exceeded our expectations. They were boutique and mid-sized agencies – many of them had personal connections and everyone expressed a real desire to help their NZ neighbours.

“It seemed to touch a real heartstring”.

Mumbrella says the final shortlist consisted of six agencies, there from Melbourne and three from Sydney.