VisitBritain has announced the appointment of Kristen Angus as Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand.
Angus steps into the role after nearly 15 years of experience at VisitBritain, having previously led the marketing and communications strategies across Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Asia.
Based in Sydney, she will oversee VisitBritain’s strategy across B2B, travel trade, PR and UK public diplomacy relations in both Australia and New Zealand.
“Kristen brings a wealth of experience from her time with VisitBritain, as well as from senior roles at other destination tourism organisations,” said Paul Gauger, VisitBritain’s Deputy Director, International.
“Her extensive industry knowledge and expertise make her well placed to lead our team and to drive forward our strategy and operations across these two vitally important markets – Australia and New Zealand.”
Prior to joining VisitBritain, Angus held roles with high-profile destination brands including Tourism Australia, Tourism New Zealand, Destination NSW and Visit Victoria.
“I’m thrilled to be rejoining the team as Country Manager and look forward to working closely with our valued travel trade and media partners in Australia and New Zealand,” said Ms Angus.
“As outbound travel to the UK continues to grow from both markets, strong collaboration with our dedicated industry partners will be key to converting growing interest into bookings.”
VisitBritain’s latest forecast estimates 1.2 million visits from Australia to the UK in 2025 with those visitors spending £1.7 billion on their trips.
Inbound tourism is one of the UK’s most valuable service exports and a major part of British trade, worth an estimated £33.7 billion to the economy in 2025 in visitor spending.
