Former Virgin CEO appointed chair of tourism body
Former Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway CBE has been appointed chairman for the BTA (VisitBritain/VisitEngland) Board.
He will succeed Christopher Rodrigues CBE.
Ridgway worked for Virgin for more than 23 years and also hands-on experience of running a tourism SME, owning the St Moritz Hotel in Cornwall with his brother.
His other tourism interests include his chairmanship of Scandlines, a large Baltic Ferry operator between Germany and Denmark.
Ridgway has served on the BTA Board as an independent board member since 2013.
Meanwhile, Denis Wormwell will succeed Penelope, Viscountess Cobham CBE as chairman of the VisitEngland Advisory Board.
Wormwell has spent the last 30 years in travel, hospitality and transport most recently as CEO of Shearings Leisure Group, a position he held for almost 10 years.
His other executive roles include CEO of National Express Group and director of Thomas Cook Tour Operations.
He was part of the management team that bought Club 18-30 and then Sunset Holidays and he set up a new airline called Flying Colours.
In addition, he has held board positions with the Confederation of Passenger Transport, ABTA Tour Operators Council and the Federation of Tours Operators.
They will both take on their roles on April 1 for a term of three years.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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