When a criminal investigation in the Abalos Plot documented UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvil’s alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme spanning throughout the COVID pandemic from the Dominican Republic to Spain, the former Georgian Ambassador made his next move by announcing he was running for a third term.
His first manipulation started when he involved the Mexican State of Nayarit in issuing a press release in the United States praising his achievements.
Two prior UNWTO Secretary Generals, Dr. Taleb Rifai, and Francesco Frangialli, both openly spoke out in an advocacy campaign by the World Tourism Network in 2020 against Zurab’s manipulation—now he is doing it again.
Ignoring the intended two-term rule and successfully manipulating UNWTO rules, which allowed him to run despite term limits, Zurab Pololikashvil announced today that he was running for a third term. This announcement also occurred when his country, the Republic of Georgia, was making global headlines.
Georgia is turning towards Russia, away from Europe. What is forgotten is that Zurab’s two prior campaigns were based on Georgia’s ambition to join the European Union—what is now history. EU countries voted for him in 2017 after Georgia’s PM officially got involved.
Today, Gustavo Rivas, who works for Evans Communication, the PR agency representing Nayarit tourism in promoting travel to the state from the U.S., circulated a press release on behalf of his client after Zurab manipulated them to announce and support his third term.
It should be mentioned that Nayarit is a Mexican state and does not represent the country of Mexico. Members of UN-Tourism are countries and not regional states. According to eTurboNews information, it is unlikely the Government of Mexico will support his ambition.
The UN Tourism Organization has little to do with tourism promotions to Nayarit. The United States is not a member of UN Tourism, and the release circulated through a commercial Cision wire service had no journalist contact information. eTN tried to reach out to Evans without success.
Another article appeared in the El Confidencial newspaper in Spain without any information about the author, making it obvious it was a paid contribution to praise Pololkashvili’s so-called achievements.
:format(jpg):quality(99):watermark(f.elconfidencial.com/file/bae/eea/fde/baeeeafde1b3229287b0c008f7602058.png,0,275,1)/f.elconfidencial.com/original/b96/589/1f9/b965891f9a80194f63b02ea71dd169af.jpg "UN Tourism Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvil Has No Shame for a Third Term 3 Travel, Tourism & Lifestyle Trends")
Evans Communication writes in their release:
Zurab Pololikashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia), the secretary general of UN Tourism, the UN Agency responsible for tourism with global headquarters in Madrid, will run for re-election for a new term from 2026 to 2029.
Pololikashvili decided to announce his candidacy upon returning from a trip to Beijing (China), where he participated in the ‘GTEF 2024’ (Global Tourism Economic Forum) and held a meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Culture of China after an intense agenda of work trips and meetings carried out in recent months, which has allowed it to obtain numerous supports from different countries around the world, according to sources from the organization.
The release continued, “Pololikashvili has been leading UN Tourism since 2018. His main challenge has been leading the strong recovery of global tourism in the post-COVID era.”
Polikashvili already has one opponent, the former Minster of Tourism for Greece, Harry Theoharis. More candidates are expected to join the race before the January deadline.
The Gloves are off!
