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Former Thomas Cook boss to chair VisitBritain
Christopher Rodrigues, a former chief executive of Thomas Cook, is to succeed Lord Marshall as chairman of VisitBritain from January 1.
He has been president and CEO of Visa International following eight years as group chief executive of Bradford and Bingley. Besides Thomas Cook, Rodrigues also held a senior position with American Express and has experience on the executive committee of the World Travel & Tourism Council.
Rodrigues will serve as chairman of VisitBritain until the end of 2010 working six days a month for £45,155 a year.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell described his credentials as “impeccable” with his experience in both the tourism and financial sectors.
Rodrigues said: “I look forward to working with the VisitBritain management and board to develop a winning strategy for Britain in this truly entreprenurial sector of the UK economy.”
Lord Marshall, who is stepping down after two years in the role, said: “Christopher Rodrigues joins VisitBritain at a time when we are seeing record numbers of visitors to Britain, yet our tourism industry continues to face challenges and increasing competition from rival destinations.
“His recent experience as president and CEO of Visa International in the USA will be an asset as we launch a three-year campaign to revitalise the British brand amongst American consumers. His strong commercial and global experience will help in our work to explore new markets and develop new partnerships with the private sector on which our future tourism growth will depend. His sporting prowess and passion is an ideal background to understanding and capitalising on the once-in-a lifetime opportunity the 2012 Olympics offers to our visitor economy.
“I believe that VisitBritain is a highly competitive, market driven organisation centred on pursuing growth, actively supporting the improvement of training and skills standards, significantly raising the levels of quality and value offered to the customer, creating attractive brands, and marketing and distributing Britain’s tourism products with world class professionalism.”
Report by Phil Davies
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