The Diplomat
The United Arab Emirates candidate, Shaikha Al Nowais, has won the election for Secretary-General of UN Tourism with 24 votes in favor.
Al Nowais defeated Greek candidate Harry Theoharis in the runoff election, 24 votes to 11, in the vote held this Friday during the 123rd meeting of the UN Tourism Executive Council, held at the Royal Site of San Ildefonso in La Granja (Segovia).
In the first round, Al Nowais received 16 votes and Theoharis 11, the same number she received in the runoff. Mexican candidate Gloria Guevara received six votes (including Spain’s), and Ghanaian candidate Muhammad Adam received two. Therefore, Spain voted for the Emirati candidate in the runoff. Tunisian candidate Habib Ammar withdrew before the vote.
Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais comes from a prominent Emirati family. She currently serves as Director of Internal Audit at Rotana Management Corporation PJSC (“Rotana”) and previously worked for the auditing firm KPMG in Abu Dhabi for three years. She holds a degree in Business Administration from Zayed University.
Al Nowais, whose appointment must be ratified at the end of the year by the organization’s General Assembly in Saudi Arabia, will succeed Georgian Zurab Pololikashvili, who had served two consecutive terms as head of the organization.
Pololikashvili had attempted to run for a third term, but his candidacy was jeopardized in the final stretch of the campaign by the unexpected decision of his country’s government to withdraw its support (without clarifying the reasons). At the previous General Assembly, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in October 2023, he managed to retain his position with the dissenting vote of Spain, among other countries.
The vote took place during the meeting of the UN Tourism Executive Council, at which Spain was represented by the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu. The permanent headquarters of UN Tourism, a United Nations agency celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is located in Spain.
The Executive Council, the governing body of UN Tourism, is responsible for ensuring that this United Nations agency carries out its work and stays within budget. It meets at least twice a year and is composed of members elected by the General Assembly.
