Greece Participates in 25th Session of UNWTO General Assembly

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili (2nd from left); Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Myron Flouris (1st from right). Photo source: Tourism Ministry.

Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Myron Flouris represented the Greek Tourism Ministry during the 25th session of the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) General Assembly held in Uzbekistan last week.

Tourism leaders and policymakers from 117 countries attended the general assembly, held every two years, and agreed to further advance plans for a more ethical and diverse sector and on expanding the UNWTO’s global presence.

Flouris also represented Greece and tabled national positions in sessions by the Region of Europe, where Greece holds the vice-presidency, the Executive Council, and the general assembly plenary.

He also presented Greece’s “Agenda for Europe” initiative including actions focused on the European region. The initiative was approved by the general assembly and included in the work program for 2024-2025.

Photo source: Tourism Ministry.

On the sidelines of the assembly, Flouris had the chance to discuss ways to further strengthen tourism ties with Croatia’s Deputy Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina and Bulgaria’s Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova.

The secretary general also met with members of EU member state delegations with whom he discussed common positions of European interest.

Lastly, he also participated in an extraordinary high-level meeting of the UNWTO’s Statistics Committee which examined the organization’s statistical framework for measuring sustainability in tourism, as well as identifying key priorities for tourism statistics on an international level.

Photo source: Tourism Ministry.

Strong, stable UNWTO

Additionally, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili highlighted efforts to strengthen and modernize the organization during the first plenary. Among others, members of the assembly agreed to extend the mandate of the task force on redesigning tourism for the future until the 26th session of the general assembly, which will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Task Force aims to reinforce UNWTO’s role in guiding the global sector forward through long-term strategy and vision. Nine Member States were approved to serve on the Task Force for the next two years.

Moreover, the UNWTO’s general assembly voted with 73 percent in favour of Secretary-General Pololikashvili being permitted to present his candidature for a third mandate.