19th session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization
From 8 to 14 October 2011, in the South Korean city of Gyeongju the 19th session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was held. The session was attended by over 1000 delegates from 120 countries, including Poland.
During the Assembly, the 53rd meeting of UNWTO Commission for Europe was held at which four European countries: France, Russia, Uzbekistan and Italy were nominated candidates to UNWTO Executive Council. Greece was elected the Chairman of the Commission for Europe for the period 2012-2013, and Israel and Georgia were elected the Vice-Chairmen.
The General Assembly approved Liberia as the 155th full member of UNWTO, and adopted the White Paper proposing a reform process of the organisation. Thanks to the reform the organisation will be more flexible, efficient and effective in meeting current and future challenges.
The following countries were approved as new members of UNWTO Executive Council:
- from Africa: Nigeria, Gambia, Madagascar, Mozambique and Mauritania (alternate member);
– from the Americas: Mexico and Brazil (alternate member);
– from Asia and Pacific: China, Indonesia and South Korea.;
– from the Middle East: Saudi Arabia;
– from Europe: France, Italy, Russia and Uzbekistan (alternate member).
Kenya, represented by its Tourism Minister Najib Balala, was elected Chairman of UNWTO Executive Council.
The General Assembly also approved themes for the World Tourism Day celebrations: in 2012 – Tourism and Sustainable Energy – Powering Sustainable Development and in 2013 – Tourism and Water – Protecting our Common Future.
Furthermore, a resolution was adopted which nominates countries to host the World Tourism Day: in 2012 – Spain and in 2013 – Maldives.
Zimbabwe and Zambia were approved to jointly host the next 20th session of UNWTO General Assembly to be held in 2013 (at Victoria Falls on the border between the two countries).
The General Assembly was attended also by a Polish delegation. The head of our delegation, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in South Korea, H.E. Krzysztof Majka proposed, on behalf of Poland, to establish a Global Travel Planning System (GTPS). In principle, the system should allow fast travel planning by every potential visitor to any attractive tourist destination on the globe and at the same time facilitate travel planning to tour operators.