UNWTO expected to play larger role as tourism becomes world's biggest

Zurab Pololikashvili said that compared to the last meeting, the number of delegates had doubled this time, adding that he is very impressed with Chengdu's performance in hosting the UNWTO gathering. The 40-year-old Georgian ambassador to Spain was elected to be the new UNWTO chief for 2018-2021 during Thursday's session.

Pololikashvili, during a brief meeting Friday with Li, the CNTA chief, pledged continued UNWTO cooperation with China, which he said is a "main partner" of the Madrid-based 156-member tourism organization.

The UNWTO will "continue cooperation with China in a productive way," he said, while expressing the hope for further cooperation with Chengdu on projects concerning the Belt and Road Initiative that aims to build trade and infrastructure networks along ancient trade routes to seek common prosperity.

On the newly-launched World Tourism Alliance (WTA), Pololikashvili said UNWTO and WTA "are brothers, sisters."

The China-initiated non-governmental, non-profit organization was established in Chengdu on Sept 12. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, during his speech delivered at the UNWTO meeting's opening ceremony, said that the WTA's role will be helpful and complementary to that of the UNWTO in global tourism development.

"My vision for UNWTO is fully based on the needs of its member states, considering current political and economic uncertainties across the globe," Pololikashvili said on the UNWTO's future under his leadership in a UNWTO press release.

"One of the top priorities will be to expand the UNWTO membership ... Cooperation with new members on tourism's contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is essential," he added.

Pololikashvili, who will take office in January, also proposed to hold global leaders' summits on travel and tourism biennially and annual ministerial meetings on safety, security and travel facilitation, among others, as UNWTO thematic platforms "so that dialogue among decision-makers results in effective inter-sectorial coordination."

Sustainability, technological impacts and security are listed by Rifai as major challenges to the global development of tourism. Pololikashvili believed the UNWTO should focus on long-term challenges, strengthen its expertise and prepare management and marketing guidelines for different tourism destinations considering current technological advances, new business models and the rise of digital tourism.

On Friday, delegates at the UNWTO meeting approved, with 51 votes for, 23 against and 56 abstentions, a non-binding international convention on tourism ethics after more than two years of drafting work to transform the UNWTO

Code of Ethics for Tourism, a move deemed as an important step in global tourism governance. The convention is expected to go into effect after it is approved by countries.
The delegates also approved St. Petersburg, Russia as the venue of the next session of the UNWTO general assembly scheduled for 2019.