Former Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway and Shearings Leisure Group CEO Denis Wormwell have been placed at the head of Britain's tourism bodies, with Ridgway being named new VisitBritain and VisitEngland chair and Wormwell new chair of the VisitEngland Advisory Board.

Ridgway, who spent more than 23 years at Virgin Atlantic in a variety of roles, spent 14 years at the company as its chief executive.

Since leaving Virgin, Ridgway has pursued personal interests, which include the St Moritz Hotel in Cornwall, which he owns with his brother. He has also taken up advisory board roles with Global Infrastructure Partners and Aim Altitude and is acting chair of Baltic Ferry operator Scandlines. He has been an independent board member of VisitBritain since 2013.

Wormwell, a member of the VisitEngland board since 2009, held his position at Shearings for 10 years until his resignation in December. During his time there, he led a management buyout of the business, and under his stewardship, the business has grown to carry more than 1.1 million customers a year.

Prior to that, Wormwell spent three years as a director of Thomas Cook Tour Operations, before joining National Express Group where he held the role of CEO for six years. He left the business in 2007 to join Shearings.

The incoming chairs will commence their roles on 1 April 2017 for a term of three years. Ridgway takes over from Christopher Rodrigues and Wormwell from Lady Penny Cobham.

“Steve Ridgway and Denis Wormwell bring with them a wealth of experience and will be dedicated champions of British and English tourism at a very exciting time for the industry,” said Karen Bradley, secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

“I would like to thank Christopher Rodrigues and Lady Penny Cobham wholeheartedly for the invaluable contribution they have made to the tourism sector over the past decade and beyond.”