Robert Collier is to spearhead the drive for more tourists in southern England. He will be first managing director of the new Southern and South East England Tourist Board (SSEETB), joining Nigel Walmsley, first chairman of the expanded board.

The South East England Tourist Board and Southern Tourist Board will merge early next year to form the new body. It will take the lead in promoting the region's tourism industry worth an estimated £10bn a year to the region's economy.

Mr Walmsley said Mr Collier's experience in tourism, including regional boards, at senior levels, made him especially well qualified for "the challenges that lie ahead for the enlarged organisation."

Mr Collier was chief executive of the East Midlands Tourist Board from 1990 to 1996, marketing director of Newcastle-based Parkdean holidays, and managing director of RGIT, an Aberdeen health and safety consultancy to the offshore oil and gas industry. He is currently completing an MBA at Durham University Business School.

Mr Collier said: "The new regional tourist board for the South and South East of England will take up the baton of providing guidance and leadership to an industry supporting over 250,000 jobs.

"I look forward to working with everyone involved in the travel, tourism and leisure industry to realise the huge opportunity that the region has to attract both domestic and inbound visitors."