In September 2023 the ambition of the current UN Tourism, or UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili was to convert his UN-affiliated agency into a Stalinist-type entity during its General assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Secretary General’s attempt to be confirmed to his post for a third term without election failed due to Germany intervening at the last minute. However, Zurab’s attempt to be allowed to run for a third term was approved after Chile put its weight behind a resolution only announced after Germany succeeded with its intervention.
What was never discussed however in Uzbekistan or any UNWTO General Assembly was for the UNWTO to be converted into UN Tourism.
This would effectively change the intention of the General Assembly the World Tourism Organization had at its conference in 2003 in Beijing, China when it converted from WTO to UNWTO.
Prof. Frangialli explains the history of UNWTO:
In the years 2000-2002, the World Tourism Organization, already an executing agency of the UN Development Programme, had become closer to the UN, in particular with the World Ecotourism Summit held in Quebec in 2002
The same year, they participated in the UN Summit held in Johannesburg, where a link was made between tourism, sustainable development, and the alleviation of poverty.
The conversion of the World Tourism Organization into a full-fledged specialized agency of the UN was proposed by me and resulted from an approval by the General Assembly held in Beijing in 2003.
The new agreement, or treaty, linking the two institutions through which this transformation was achieved was approved in parallel by the ECOSOC and then the General Assembly of the UN in the last weeks of 2003.
The change took effect in the first days of 2004. The following UNWTO GA was held in Dakar in 2005. I was on this occasion re-elected for a third term.
Simultaneously, the Assembly decided, with my support, to limit our statutes to two the number of terms to be accomplished by any Secretary General in the future.
To take effect, the amendment to the statutes had to be ratified afterward by two-thirds of the members of the Organization.
This is why, following a recommendation by Spain, the Dakar General Assembly decided in addition that the limit to two terms would be applied on a provisional basis pending the ratification of the amendment.
This is also the reason why my successor, Taleb Rifai, respecting the decision of the Assembly, did not run for a third term.
The same former Secretary General Frangialli spoke out and explained the intention behind this change to eTurboNews, concluding that the name change announcement by UNWTO at FITUR in Madrid earlier this week has no legal basis and is a sham.
The press release issued by UNWTO or UN Tourism and its branding agency Interbrand announcing “UNWTO becomes UN Tourism to mark a new era for the global sector” was not only wrong but a sham on its own.
The Lie Behind the Change
The statement in this release that the change has been endorsed by the Organization’s membership is untrue. The membership had no say. The last UNWTO General Assembly was in Uzbekistan in 2023 and no additional Membership meeting was conducted.
Highlighting its united support for the profound transformation and reinvention of UN Tourism in recent years, as it has become more agile, visible, and ever closer to its Member States, partners and the sector as a whole.
Press Release statement saying the UN General Assembly approved the change from UNWTO to UN Tourism (untrue)
eTurboNews spoke to Interbrand in London but received no comment on this issue. eTurboNews also asked how much Interbrand charged for this job, and they preferred not to disclose an amount.
UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli
This invention of “UN Tourism” is total nonsense, but a sham
This is what former three-term UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli told eTurboNews today.
When, just twenty years ago, we converted our institution into a specialized agency of the United Nations, it was through an international treaty between two distinct entities with different legal personalities: The United Nations Organisation and the World Tourism Organisation.
Through this move, UNWTO became a full-fledged member of the UN family or UN System, not a part of the United Nations.
UNWTO remained independent and did not become a UN program, such as a branch of the UN.
UNWTO was different from UN entities such as UNDP, UNEP, or UNICEF
How can you be UN Tourism when you do have not the same mission, the same budget, the same management, and even the same membership as the UN itself?
Becoming UN Tourism would require a change in the name of the institution through an amendment to its statutes. Since it has not been done, the recent announcement is without any legal effect.
The press release which has been issued indicates that the change is supported by UNWTO members.
The way this approbation took place is a mystery.
As far as I know, the General Assembly did not approve any resolution in this regard. Equally important, there is no mention of any endorsement by the United Nations Organization Protocol, as it should have been requested and given beforehand.
This was the case in 2004 for using the acronym of UNWTO instead of WTO.
Prof. Frangialli concluded:
Everything demonstrates that the recent announcement is exclusively about communication, not law, or substance.
(eTN): UN Tourism is a UNWTO Sham! Former SG Francesco Frangialli is Upset | re-post license | post content
