Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi has already won the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) top post, outgoing secretary-general Taleb Rifai has said.
eTurboNews/Business Reporter
The election to replace the Jordanian Rifai will be held in Madrid, Spain on May 10 and 11.
Rifai last week applauded Mzembi for his professionalism and efforts to improve Zimbabwe’s brand.
“Whatever happens in May (the month in which the UNWTO election will take place), for me you are already a winner, you have already won,” Rifai said at a gala dinner organised for Mzembi by the Zimbabwean embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“What you have done and what you have achieved, diplomatically, for your country as you have traversed the world on your campaign programme is simply unprecedented.”
Rifai said Mzembi had successfully co-organised “one of the best attended” general assemblies of the UNWTO in 2013. The 20th session general assembly was co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Mzembi will fight it out with Armenian Vahan Martinosyan, Márcio Favilla (Brazil), Jaime Alberto Cabal Sanclemente (Colombia), Zurab Pololikashvili (Georgia), Young-shim Dho (South Korea) and Alain St. Ange from Seychelles to head the organisation from 2018 to 2021.
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The dinner was attended by African ministers in charge of tourism, who were attending the 59th meeting of the UNWTO’s Commission for Africa and African ambassadors accredited to the African Union among others.
Rifai’s endorsement comes on the back of a call by the African Union for members to support Mzembi as the continent’s candidate for next month’s polls.
AU Commission deputy chairperson, Kwesi Quartey urged Africa to vote as one united bloc to increase its chances of winning. Quartey said “we must win this for the first time”.
Quartey predicted victory for Mzembi on the back of his professional experience and qualifications, adding that he would serve UNWTO with distinction.
No African has held the post of UNWTO secretary-general since the organisation was founded in 1975 as a UN agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
