The World Travel Market in London is about to begin on Monday. Tourism stakeholders are looking forward to 3 days of intense discussions and doing business at the second-largest travel trade show in the world.
It appears most of the threats in regards to transportation striking again in London may not severely impact this important global travel and tourism event.
While ITB Berlin did not yet take place it’s the second time for WTM after COVID to come together in London.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in cooperation with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) invited ministers of tourism along with media to discuss digital technology play in reimagining tourism as a driver of social inclusion.
eTurboNews is a proud media partner of the World Travel Market for many years but two days before the beginning of the event was told by Juliette Losardo, the exhibition director for Reed :
Dear Mr. Steinmetz,
We refer to your email regarding registration for the Ministers Summit.
We have considered your request, but having taken into account the wishes of our partner, UNWTO, please be informed that you will not be permitted to attend the Ministers Summit taking place at WTM 2022.
We realize this may come as a disappointment to you, however, we look forward to welcoming you to WTM London 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Juliette Losardo
Exhibition Director
World Travel Market
An executive representing WTTC responded to this with a simple word “Wow”
The reason behind this is not Reed Exhibition, not Juliette Losardo as show director, but Zurab Pololikashvili, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization.
A news reporter told Steinmetz:
The Key is getting this news out in the open before he (Zurab Pololikashvili) has a chance to do a dirty deal.
eTurboNews has been critical in regard to Zurab’s modus operandi in winning his elections. When the media publishes critical content naming him, it means this Georgian politician will find a way to exclude such critics.
eTurboNews is known not to provide lip services and has been critical of Zurabs leadership style. The result is exclusion- and Zurab is not shy to do this in a public way.
This is the second year eTurboNews publisher Juergen Steinmetz was banned from the event. Steinmetz is also the chairman of the World Tourism Network, an association speaking out for small and medium-sized businesses.
Steinmetz reached out to Anita Mendiratta, the top advisor for Zurab. She refused to respond or comment.
Ironically Mendiratta was a contributor to eTurboNews for many years and was essential to arrange a partnership between UNWTO, CNN, IATA, and eTurboNews known as the CNN Task Group. She was also a top advisor for the former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, who remains to be a close friend and supporter of eTurboNews.
A tourism minister told Steinmetz when hearing about this:
Zurab is very childish. He is reducing UNWTO to a fringe dictatorship.
Another comment received on this by a top tourism influencer was:
Zurab has effectively destroyed the organization (UNWTO) in terms of being effective. No one listens to it. No one cares about it. It has no power except among dictatorship countries.
According to reliable eTurboNews sources, Zurab is currently working on a manipulation, so he can run for Secretary-General for a third term. An oversight at the General Assembly in Senegal in 2005 may open the legal door for this.
UNWTO member states had voted to only allow a maximum of two terms for the Secretary-General, but this was apparently never signed properly.
This year, the United Kingdom is number 35 in the world for press freedom, putting the UK in the yellow zone
World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) was observed on 03 May 2022. A debate will be held on WPFD in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 9.30 am, opened by Damian Collins MP.
WPFD is an initiative from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to support and reflect on the work of media organizations and professionals. It seeks to hold governments to account for their commitment to press freedom and allow the press to reflect on professional ethics. According to its website, the day:
“acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story.”
The theme of this year’s WPFD Global Conference (held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay) was “Journalism Under Digital Siege.” The goal is to underline the role of information in an online media environment by focusing on the following:
- the digital era’s impact on freedom of expression.
- the safety of journalists.
- access to information.
- Privacy.
The United Kingdom ranks 33rd on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders and is marked as yellow. This is a second-place categorization, indicating that press freedom in the UK is generally ‘satisfactory’ but not ‘good’.
Freedom of the press was established in Great Britain in 1695, with Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian, stating: “When people talk about licensing journalists or newspapers the instinct should be to refer them to history. Read about how licensing of the press in Britain was abolished in 1695.
Steinmetz said: “This ministerial meeting at WTM is not important. Important is how a United Nations agency can get away with restricting access to legitimate media. eTurboNews has not received a response to any questions an eTN reporter submitted to UNWTO ever since Zurab took the helm. “
“Press releases only reach eTurboNews through back channels, however, UNWTO coverage by eTurboNews is complete and almost on a daily basis for the last 20+ years.”
