Britain’s national tourism agency, VisitBritain, has announced the appointment of Kristen Angus as country manager for Australia and New Zealand, effective 1 July 2025.
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.
Paul Gauger, VisitBritain’s Deputy Director, International said: “Following a competitive recruitment process, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kristen Angus to this pivotal role within our international network. Kristen brings a wealth of experience from her time with VisitBritain, as well as from senior roles at other destination tourism organisations. 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.”
Kristen Angus, VisitBritain’s Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand said: “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. 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.
With a full slate of standout sporting moments keeping Britain top of mind in the year ahead – from The British & Irish Lions and Wrexham AFC tours to The Ashes and next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, alongside our global Starring GREAT Britain campaign, we’ll be inspiring even more Aussie and Kiwi travellers to choose Britain as the star of their next holiday.”
Most recently, Angus served as VisitBritain’s head of marketing for the Middle East and Asia, where she successfully launched the Starring GREAT Britain campaign across the region while also leading on consumer campaigns and activations at GREAT Saudi Futures and Osaka Expo 2025. Before that, she oversaw VisitBritain’s marketing and communications efforts in Australia and New Zealand, working closely with airlines, travel trade, and consumer brands, and supported major events such as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Sydney WorldPride 2023, and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games to raise Britain’s profile and drive growth from the ANZ markets.
Prior to joining VisitBritain, Angus held roles with high-profile destination brands including Tourism Australia, Tourism New Zealand, Destination NSW and Visit Victoria.
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. Whilst for New Zealand, the forecast estimates 235,000 visits and £334 million spend in 2025.
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.
