Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced the appointment of Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, Martin George, Digby Jones and Alan Parker to the Board of VisitBritain.

Lady Cobham is chair of both the British Casino Association and the Civic Trust. She is a former board member of the English Tourist Board (1987-1992), English Heritage, the Countryside Commission and British Waterways and serves as a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum.Martin George has been director in charge of marketing and commercial development at British Airways since 2002. He is currently a board member of BA London Eye Company, a member of the London Tourist Board also chair of the Marketing Group of Great Britain.

Digby Jones has been director general of the Confederation of British Industry since 2000 and he is the founder chair of the Tourism Alliance. Alan Parker became managing director of Whitbread Hotels in 1992, following senior posts with Bass, now Intercontinental Hotels. Between 1998 and 2000, he chaired the British Hospitality Association. He is also a director of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.

VisitBritain is the new organisation created on 1 April this year to market England to the British and Britain to the rest of the world. It was formed by the merger of the English Tourism Council and the British Tourist Authority. Details: www.culture.gov.uk