Kenny Boyle has been appointed commercial and marketing services director at VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, following changes across three divisions of the organisation.

Boyle, currently international marketing director at VisitBritain, will take up the new role on 1 October 2005.

Following an internal review of international marketing activity and the structure of VisitBritain`s overseas operations, two of the organisation`s divisions International Marketing and Overseas Operations will merge, under one director, to form Britain International. VisitBritain will not be closing any overseas offices and will retain its presence in all existing markets.

Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain, said:

VisitBritain will launch an updated three-year strategy for international marketing later this year. The new division, Britain International, has been developed to reflect this strategy and it will increase the clarity and focus of the international marketing of Britain in 36 markets. It will also create a more straightforward route to these markets for our partners.

Some areas of International Marketing, such as business to business marketing, will be moved to the newly-formed division, Commercial and Marketing Services, previously known as Enterprise.

Wright said: Commercial and Marketing Services will be one of the largest divisions of VisitBritain with the crucial role of engaging the industry and the global consumer in the full range of our services and online activity. The division will incorporate the development of commercial initiatives, publishing services, business visitor marketing, industry relations, and EnglandNet.

Kenny Boyle joined VisitBritain in March 2003 as international marketing director. He was previously at NTL and British Airways. Since joining VisitBritain, he has led the roll-out of a brand architecture for Britain and its nations and regions, established www.visitbritain.com as a multi-award winning web platform operating in nearly 40 local market editions, 20 in local language, and created a global CRM capability.

The position of Britain International director will be held by Roger Johnson, currently director of overseas operations, until his retirement in 2006. VisitBritain will shortly start recruiting for his replacement.