Zurab Pololikashvili Betrayed Georgia, UN Tourism & The Way Forward

The official letter from the Government of the Republic of Georgia mandating UN-Tourism to withdraw Zurab Pololikashvili’s candidacy for the next election as UN-Tourism Secretary General was received at UN-Tourism headquarters in Madrid on May 15.

The secretariat must now officially inform all member countries, specifically the voting Executive Council member countries. With Zurab still in charge, the secretariat is expected to act as slowly as possible.

Pololikashvili’s Candidacy is undemocratic

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze wisely confirmed that support for Pololikashvili’s candidacy would be seen as “not particularly democratic.”

He mentioned diplomatic pushback from partner countries as one of the factors: “Certain states began summoning our ambassadors, in a sort of diplomatic demarche, in connection with us nominating the same candidate for the third time within the UN system.” Kobakhidze added, “They told us that it would be an unprecedented case, because it’s not customary for the same person to be nominated more than twice for such leadership positions.”

In the meantime, a furious, upset Zurab Pololikashvili called his prime minister words, resulting in Zurab being censured over his language.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, parliamentary majority leader of the Georgia Dream party, lashed out at Pololikashvili, accusing him of disregarding the GD government’s appeals during pivotal moments for the country. Mdinaradze claimed that Pololikashvili utterly disregarded calls “when Georgia needed his role, his status and his involvement in these ambiguous relationships with partners,” more than ever.

Doubling down, Mdinaradze alleged that Pololikashvili no longer represents the Georgian state but rather “his masters.” “I don’t say his masters by accident – anyone subordinated to his masters must know that if they do not serve Georgia, then Georgia will not support their candidacy, on the contrary, it will block it,” he claimed.

I do not represent the deep state:

According to Formula TV, Zurab said, “I do not represent the deep state or the global war party—I am a Georgian, the Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization. “

Speaking during an appearance on Imedi TV’s political talk show, Imedi LIVE—a program widely regarded as a key platform for GD messaging—PM Irakli Kobakhidze responded to Pololikashvili’s remarks, saying it was “unfortunate” to see the head of one of the UN agencies use such language. The Prime Minister dismissed Pololikashvili’s “deep state” reference as irrelevant. He said, “I don’t understand what the deep state has to do with this topic. But generally, it’s unfortunate.”

On May 15 in Batumi, PM Kobakhidze explained to reporters that the ruling party’s choice not to endorse Pololikashvili was not connected to supporting the UAE or any other candidate. He reiterated that Pololikashvili’s remarks provided clear evidence that the GD government’s decision to retract support had no substitute.

“If there hadn’t been this disrespectful approach, this attempt to hit [us] over the head and so on – everything would have been different,” Kobakhidze said.

He confirmed he had ignored Pololikashvili’s attempts to contact him, saying, “He attempted something that no longer deserved a response. He deserved the withdrawal of his candidacy. He opposed the interests of the state.” He described Pololikashvili’s actions as “a betrayal of the state.”

Betrayed

According to voices from those who had supported the World Tourism Network advocacy campaign speaking out against manipulation within UNWTO over the last 8 years, Zurab betrayed many in the global travel and tourism industry, countries that did not play by his tune, and staff who voiced criticism.

These voices included two previous secretary generals, association heads, former and current ministers of tourism, and major and not-so-major stakeholders of the travel and tourism sector.

It becomes clear, Zurab Pololikashvili used his UN Tourism Secretary-General position to turn this UN-affiliated office into his extraterritorial kingdom. He used this position to get involved in many questionable activities, favors, and giveaways.
His own country finally understood and did the right thing.

Gloria Guevara, Mexian Candidate UN-Tourism

Harry Theoharis, Greek Candidate UN-Tourism

Way forward

Juergen Steinmetz, chairman of the World Tourism Network, which led the UN-Tourism Advocacy Campaign against Zurab Pololikashvili, and who is also publisher of eTurboNews, the only independent publication in the global travel and tourism industry, is adding his peace of mind to the mix in saying:

With either Mexican candidate Gloria Guevara or her Greek counterpart Harry Theoharis, most likely to take over UN-Tourism and be responsible for cleaning up a big mess, it’s crucial to understand how important a balanced approach is for this most powerful job in the political tourism world.

It takes more than being a skilled politician. It takes connections, experience and seniority, it takes the private sector to support, and it takes countries that are not currently part of UN-Tourism to look at the organization again as a serious leader, so UN-Tourism could once again become a globally acceptable platform for our sector.

The lesson learned is that a UN agency is owned by the world, not by a person, a country, an organization. A leader of such an organization should be able to balance all of it, gain the trust of all stakeholders, and move forward with an agenda everyone gets excited about.

A leader of UN-Tourism must understand that even this is a political position, travel and tourism is a for profit business, but a business that also has responsibilities, must give back, needs investments, and is essential for so many of our citizens in so many regions on our blue (and green) planet.

A leader of such an organization should take criticism as a tool to learn, face questions, and listen, allowing independent media to be part of the process, so they can ask questions.

UN-Tourism and the woman or man leading it should be a globalist, a team player, and accessible, open-minded, and someone who cares.