VisitBritain chairman Nick de Bois CBE opened the first of its two-day travelling roadshow events in Sydney this morning, the first of five events being held on the Australian east coast, and the first trade mission since 2016.

“I am delighted to be leading VisitBritain’s first travel trade mission to Australia in nearly a decade,” de Bois said at the Sofitel Wentworth before the roadshow heads to Melbourne on Wednesday and Brisbane on Thursday and Friday.

“I think in the last nine years, my wife and I have been to Australia five times. This is my first visit as chair of visit Britain. Each time I come, I’m just enormously excited, and that hasn’t changed from the first visit to here. I actually think, you know – don’t let them know this in Britain – had I not been born a Brit, I think I would have wanted to be born Australian!”

Australia is the UK’s fourth most valuable visitor market and following record-breaking results in 2023, the mission is aiming to provide a timely opportunity for British travel suppliers and destinations to get their tourism products and services in front of Australian buyers and explore new business opportunities.

“You are the most prized visitors, frankly, in the world, and we’re going to do our very best to see more and more of you come over and have a good time,” he said.

VisitBritain’s latest estimates show Australians are forecast to spend a record £1.7 billion (AU$3.3 billion) on their trips across the UK this year. The number of Australian visits to the UK has also been reaching historic highs. There were a record 1.2 million visits from Australia to the UK in 2023, up 10 per cent on 2019.

“I’m sure back at visit Britain, the forecasters would have kittens, but the reality is, the only thing that will hold us back is our lack of ambition from meeting £2 billion within two years by 2026  – it’s highly achievable, and I’ll tell you why I think it’s highly achievable.

“It’s because the demand for Britain is clearly growing, as I’ve illustrated, but actually at its heart, the foundations of the relationship between Britain and Australia and the people of Britain and Australia are so deep-seated, and they run deep and they run long, that they are the sort of foundations of  what other countries would kill for, to have to build on and we can, we can see that materialise.”

Thirty-five British tourism suppliers will be in attendance during the three-city event.

Thirty-five British tourism suppliers are in attendance, including destination management companies.

Across the five-day mission, Australian travel buyers and agents will have the chance to connect with leading British tourism suppliers to learn about the latest products and innovations on offer from across Britain’s tourism industry. Buyers will be able to participate in one-to-one business appointments during the day, with attend travel agent training and networking events in the evening.

The British suppliers, many of whom are visiting Australia for the first time, include hotels, visitor attractions, destination management companies as well as tour and sightseeing operators.

From Alnwick Castle in England’s North East, Liverpool Football Club Experiences, Historic Royal Palaces and ABBA Voyage in London to VisitScotland, Visit Birmingham & The West Midlands, Visit West (Bath & Bristol), Visit Lake District, Cumbria and Experience Oxfordshire, the Australian travel trade industry will have a chance to hear from a variety of British suppliers spanning the length and breadth of the nations and regions.

VisitBritain chairman, Nick de Bois CBE, opens the trade mission at Sofitel Wentworth.

“(Australian toruists) are the most coveted in the world,” de Bois said. “And I don’t say that lightly. I mean, to me, statistics have a role to play, but they’re not the be all, end all. But the bottom line is, Australians, when they come over, the reason people want them is they stay longer. And I’m sorry to put it like this, you spend more.

“We’re very happy about that. But that is why you are very coveted. That is why we know that it’s right to set down those relationships face to face, as we’re doing now, and in the partnerships we have right across the trade.”

De Bois also hinted at a new tourism campaign, Starring Great Britain. Set to launch in USA, Australia, Germany, France and GCC in January 2025, it will invite audiences to ‘see things differently’ through the lens of film and TV to demonstrate a welcoming, dynamic, and diverse Britain and drive urgency to visit.

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