Britain is heading Down Under with more than tea, castles and a well-polished royal wave. VisitBritain is bringing a sizeable delegation of destinations and tourism suppliers to Australia and New Zealand in a concerted push to turn strong Australasian affection for Britain into longer itineraries, wider regional dispersal and, crucially, more visitor spending.
The national tourism agency’s five-day Australian trade mission runs from 14 to 18 September 2026 in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing dozens of British travel businesses and destination organisations face-to-face with more than 300 Australian buyers and travel advisors.
It follows an Auckland trade workshop from 9 September, with more than 150 New Zealand travel agents and advisors set to take part.
And this is no ceremonial exchange of brochures and business cards.
The format is deliberately commercial. One-to-one appointments, advisor engagement events, market briefings and industry roundtables are designed to move beyond destination dreaming and into product knowledge, contracting and, ultimately, bookings.
For Australian and New Zealand travel advisors, that means direct access to the people building the itineraries, experiences and accommodation products they will be selling.
For British suppliers, it means something equally valuable: the chance to hear, without a London filter, precisely what long-haul travellers on this side of the world actually want.
Britain brings the whole tourism shop window
Among the destination heavyweights taking part are VisitScotland, Visit Wales, Experience Oxfordshire, Marketing Manchester, Visit Birmingham & West Midlands, Visit Lake District and Visit West, representing Bristol and Bath.
They are joined by attractions, hotels, rail operators, tour companies, destination management companies and major sporting venues from across Britain.
The rollcall ranges from Alnwick Castle, Historic Royal Palaces and the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction to Liverpool Football Club, Manchester City Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Eurostar, Rail Europe, The Goring and Windermere Lake Cruises.
In other words, Britain is not arriving with one postcard. It is bringing the whole album.
VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates said:
“This major trade mission brings our very important Australasian markets together with British suppliers to do business, shining the spotlight on the fantastic products and experiences on offer and getting those sold in international markets, boosting Britain’s economy.
“The friendship and connections between our countries already run deep, and our trade missions are proven catalysts for growth. Building product and destination knowledge broadens travel itineraries so visitors explore more of Britain, spreading the economic benefits of visitor spending across our nations and regions and supporting local jobs and businesses.
“Travel advisors in Australia and New Zealand shape long-haul travel decisions and hearing first-hand about what visitors want and expect gives our tourism businesses and destinations valuable insights. From our vibrant cities and world-class attractions to our history, heritage and contemporary culture, we’re showcasing the very best of regional Britain to the people who influence travel bookings every day.”
Australians remain big business for Britain
That last point matters.
Australia is already one of Britain’s most valuable inbound visitor markets, ranked fourth by VisitBritain.
VisitBritain’s latest estimates forecast around 1.1 million Australian visits to the UK in 2026, with Australian travellers expected to spend approximately £1.7 billion during those trips.
New Zealand is smaller in raw numbers, but its trajectory is particularly impressive.
VisitBritain forecasts 275,000 visits from New Zealand during 2026, generating around £385 million in spending.
Compared with 2019, VisitBritain estimates New Zealand visitor numbers will be 47 per cent higher, while spending will have increased by 125 per cent.
The full figures and methodology are available in VisitBritain’s official 2026 inbound tourism forecast.
Those figures look even more important when set against the broader long-haul picture.
VisitBritain’s revised 2026 outlook forecasts 44.2 million inbound visits to the UK, generating around £33.9 billion in visitor spending.
However, long-haul markets overall are expected to remain under pressure, making proven, high-value markets such as Australia and New Zealand more strategically important.
Suddenly, those Australians and New Zealanders look even more attractive.
Why travel advisors matter
Australia and New Zealand are mature, high-spending markets with strong family, cultural and historical ties to Britain.
They are also, inconveniently, a very long way away.
A holiday to Britain is rarely an impulse purchase made between breakfast and the school run.
Airfares, stopovers, multi-city itineraries, rail travel, touring arrangements, hotels and regional connections can all make professional travel advice particularly valuable.
VisitBritain’s mission is therefore about expanding the map.
The economic prize is not simply another hotel night in London.
It is persuading travellers to add Wales, Scotland, northern England, the West Midlands, Bristol, Bath, the Lake District or Oxfordshire, then encouraging them to spend with local hotels, restaurants, attractions, guides and transport companies along the way.
That dispersal of visitors has become increasingly important to national tourism organisations looking to spread tourism’s economic benefits beyond traditional gateways.
Australian travellers and advisors looking for destination inspiration can also explore VisitBritain’s official Australian site at VisitBritain Australia.
Lights, camera, bookings
VisitBritain also has another substantial weapon in its tourism armoury: film and television.
Its global “Starring GREAT Britain” campaign continues during 2026, using familiar screen locations to encourage international visitors to choose Britain, explore further and stay longer.
The strategy is backed by unusually strong consumer interest.
VisitBritain research shows more than nine in ten potential UK visitors are interested in visiting locations used in film and television during a British holiday.
That gives Australian and New Zealand travel advisors a ready-made storytelling device.
Britain can be sold not simply by geography, but through familiar cultural hooks: screen locations, football grounds, stately homes, literary landscapes, railway journeys, royal history, and heritage attractions that have drawn Australasian visitors north for generations.
Suppliers want business, not merely exposure
The British suppliers making the journey are equally clear about what they hope to achieve.
Amy Sutherland, B2B Sales Manager for Rabbie’s Tours, said:
“Collaborating with VisitBritain on events like the Australia mission and New Zealand workshop ensures we spread the word and reach more international visitors. Meeting with buyers face-to-face in market allows us to understand the needs of the travel trade, develop the right tourism offers and secure new business.”
That is the nub of it.
Tourism promotion may begin with inspiration, glossy imagery and a romantic castle disappearing into the Scottish mist, but successful trade missions are ultimately measured in contracts, itineraries and seats sold.
For Britain, the timing is significant.
VisitBritain’s wider 2026 inbound outlook places increasing emphasis on established markets where travellers already understand the destination and where professional advisors can turn interest into higher-value bookings.
Australia and New Zealand fit that brief rather neatly.
There is sentiment in the relationship, certainly. Australians and New Zealanders have been travelling to Britain for generations for family, history, sport, study and the occasional pilgrimage to an English pub that confidently claims to be older than their home country.
But this mission is ultimately less about nostalgia than yield.
VisitBritain wants Australasian travellers to stay longer, explore further and spend more widely.
And it wants the travel trade to help make that happen.
The objective could hardly be clearer: give Australian and New Zealand advisors more reasons to sell Britain, give them more regions and products to sell and ensure each long-haul visit works harder for communities and tourism businesses across the UK.
If the meetings in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland do their job, Britain will not simply remain familiar.
It will become newly bookable.
By: Michelle Warner – © 2026.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
Author Bio:
Michelle Warner has always carried stories the way others carry passports lightly, faithfully, and with purpose. She learned her craft in newsrooms, shaping sentences with care, before swapping deadlines for departures as a flight attendant with some of the world’s great airlines. Years aloft sharpened her eye for character and deepened her fondness for the small, dignified rituals of travel, the quiet kindness of strangers, the poetry of arrival, the patience learned between time zones.
Now grounded by choice, Michelle has come home to writing with the same calm authority she once brought to turbulent cabins. Her prose blends an editor’s discipline with a traveller’s wonder, tinged with humour and reverence for the golden age of travel. Each piece feels like a handwritten boarding pass, gracious, observant, and unmistakably alive.
