Tabel Rifai Appointed UNWTO Secretary General

The UNWTO General Assembly voted by acclamation for Tabel Rifai to be the next Secretary General, ratifying the recommendation of the Organization’s Executive Council at its 85th session meeting in Mali earlier this year.

His four year mandate period will start at January 2010, and Mr. Rifai will became the fifth Secretary General of the UN’s tourism agency and the first one from the Arab world, as his origin is from Jordan.

Mr. Rifai has served as Secretary General ad interim since March 2009, and had previously been Deputy Secretary General since February 2006. He has also served as Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Jordan.

“Tourism is at a crossroads. With current economic realities intensifying long-term global challenges such as poverty alleviation and climate changes, UNWTO, as the leading global tourism organization should take stock of its strengths, consolidate its achievements, acknowledge its shortcomings and move to address the challenges ahead,” Mr. Rifai said in his inaugural speech.

Also, the new Secretary General called for the need to consolidate and expand UNWTO membership at the same time as ensuring that the value of UNWTO be clear and evident. Finally, he said he will introduce a major revision of the structure of Affiliate Members to enable them to become meaningful representatives on non-governmental stakeholders.