Alberto Rubio
Numerous countries have expressed their support for the Uzbek Government’s proposal for the current secretary general of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, to renew a third term. The proposal will be presented to the UNWTO General Assembly and Executive Council next week when they meet in Samarkand.
Uzbekistan’s Minister of Tourism, Aziz Abdukhakimov, addressed a letter to the UNWTO Secretariat General on August 3 requesting that an item be included in the provisional agenda of the 25th General Assembly “to consider the renewal of the secretary-general’s mandate” and that it also be included in the provisional agenda of the 119th Executive Council of the Organization “for it to consider recommending such a renewal to the General Assembly.”
The Uzbek minister argues that “these proposals are intended to ensure that the progress of the program initiated in 2018,” when the current secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, first took office, continues uninterrupted”. Abdukhakimov underlines, among Pololikashvili’s immediate achievements, that “after finding himself at the beginning of his mandate with a deficit of 750,000 euros, he presented to the General Assembly a positive balance of 2.4 million euros just 18 months later“, during the meeting that took place in St. Petersburg in September 2019.
He also highlights initiatives such as the International Code for the Protection of Tourists, the Best Tourism Villages program, the One Planet Program for sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism, or the promotion of investment with the publication of investment guides such as ‘Tourism and Business’, in addition to various competitions aimed at involving young people and start-ups in the sector.
The Uzbek minister considers, on the other hand, that “the process of regionalization of the Organization”, with the opening of regional offices such as the one in Riyadh, “is essential to serve all member states effectively” and proposes “to establish in Uzbekistan a UNWTO thematic office on Silk Road Tourism”.
For all these reasons, it considers that “the coherent consolidation of this decentralization process and its sustainability” make the permanence of the current secretary-general “beyond 2025” essential.
In a letter co-signed by the Uruguayan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, and of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, both emphasize that the “support of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay to Uzbekistan’s proposal acquires special importance in view of the joint work that has been carried out in the promotion of our country as a recipient of tourism”.
In a similar letter, Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism, Niels Olsen, recalls that “in 2020 our sector experienced the most important crisis in living memory. The steps taken by the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization during those moments of uncertainty accompanied us in the gradual recovery of the sector, which is close to approaching pre-pandemic levels”.
Mexico has also shown its support for the proposal and recalls the meeting that Pololikashvili held with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In a letter addressed to the UNWTO Secretariat General, the Mexican Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco, underlines the “successful initiatives and global policies of great impact carried out under his mandate, highlighting the prestigious Best Tourism Villages program, in which several of our beautiful destinations are part of”.
The Guatemala Institute of Tourism, through its director general, Anayansy Rodriguez, also expresses its support for the proposal “with a view to ensuring the continuity of the vision and work program initiated since 2018” by the current secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili.
The Democratic Republic of Congo “supports the relevance of the arguments expressed by Uzbekistan,” according to its Minister of Tourism, Didier Mazenga, and joins “the continuity and consolidation of the achievements of the excellent work carried out” during Pololikashvili’s mandate. He adds that his renewal “will ensure the success of the current dynamic” by allowing the current secretary general to “complete the initiatives that are underway.”
For his part, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Tourism, Siandou Fofana, supports Uzbekistan’s proposal because in addition to the fact that “the sector has improved its performance and overcome the terrible crisis of Covid-19,” Pololikashvili has taken “Africa much more into account when drawing up the general work plan”.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, also expressed his support for the Secretary General, who is also a native of that country, because “tangible progress has been made in the tourism sector during his mandate. He therefore considers it “of the utmost importance to continue without interruption with the implementation of the agenda” and is confident that “under Pololikashvili’s leadership, the tourism sector will prosper and achieve new goals for the benefit of its member states”.
The president of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine, Mariana Oleskiv, thanked Zurab Pololikashvili for his support for Ukraine, “especially in the face of Russia’s massive military aggression” and expressed her hope that once “Ukraine achieves victory in the near future,” we wish to have the opportunity to revitalize the tourism sector in my homeland.”
