New executive committee elected at 70th Skål World Congress

The new executive committee of Skål International elected on November 3, 2009 during the 70th Skål World Congress held in the magnificent city of Budapest, Hungary is as follows:

Nik Racic (Croatia) president
Tony Boyle (Australia) vice president, responsible for development
Enrique Quesada (Mexico) vice president, responsible for finance
Lone Ricks (Denmark), director – special projects
Karine Coulanges (France) director – communications and public relations
Mok Singh (U.S.A.) director – statutes with responsibility for the repositioning of Skål International
Marianne Krohn (Germany) director – business affairs
Bent Hadler (Denmark) president of the International Skål Council
Jim Power – secretary general

President Nik Racic and the new Skål International management team have already met to set the objectives for 2009/2010 so that they can start working as quickly as possible.

During the Gala Dinner, president-elect, Nik Racic thanked president Hulya Aslantas for the fantastic work she had accomplished during her year as president. He also thanked the delegates that had elected him as the new leader of the Skål movement, and he promised to work for all members in order to make Skål even more professional and to become the most important and significant international business and friendship club in the tourism industry.

Skål, which was founded as an international association in 1934, is the largest organization of travel and tourism professionals and brings together all branches of the tourism industry, with 20,000 members in 500 cities and 90 countries.

Skål International aims for quality and supports sustainable development and responsible tourism. Skål International is an affiliate member and vice president of the business council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, one of whose missions is to promote ethics in business and, in particular, the Global Code of Ethics, which includes peace, the environment, security, human relations, and respect for local cultures. Skål International is also a member of the task force on the prevention of the exploitation of children in tourism and is on the steering committee of the Code of Conduct drawn up as a result of the work done by the group.

The general secretariat of Skål International is located in Torremolinos, Spain. For any additional information please contact: Skål International, General Secretariat, Edificio España, Avenida Palma de Mallorca 15-1º, 29620 Torremolinos, Spain, Tel: +34 952 38 9111, web: www.skal.travel , email: [email protected] .