Albanian Prime Minister Welcomes UNWTO Leadership and Embraces Shared Goals
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili has met with His Excellency Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, to explore shared priorities for boosting tourism’s role in economic development and social opportunity.
On his first official visit to Albania, Secretary-General Pololikashvili reaffirmed his vision for a tourism transformed around the priorities of jobs, education and investments, and met both Prime Minister Rama and from Minister of Tourism Mirela Kumbaro to explore common goals and potential areas of greater collaboration. In the area of investments, the two parties identified the possibility of producing a new set of Investment Guidelines for Albania with the aim of supporting tourism projects focused on sustainability.
Advancing a shared commitment to youth empowerment through tourism, Prime Minister Rama joined the Secretary-General in presenting certificates of participation to the Albanian delegation at the first UNWTO Global Youth Tourism Summit held last year. The With Mayor of Tirana Eeion Veliaj, the UNWTO leadership discussed the opportunities of innovation and smart tourism, against the backdrop of ‘Tumo Piramide’, one of the biggest startup hubs in the Balkans. The Secretary-General Pololikashvili confirmed UNWTO’s interest in working with the Government and Albanian innovators to boost innovation across the wider region.
Tourism delivering for Albanian people
I am extremely pleased to be in Albania and witness the Government embracing tourism as and economic and development driver to offer a brighter future for people in both cities and rural areas. UNWTO will continue to work closely with Albania to ensure the enormous potential is fully realized both here and across the wider region. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili
Secretary-General Pololikashvil also commended the Albanian Government for their strong support for the sector, both during and the pandemic and as tourism recovers. Albania enjoyed one of the strongest increases in international tourist arrivals in the region, outperforming all the European Union countries in 2022 with a 19% rise in visitors.
UNWTO to join Sustainability Forum
The high-level UNWTO delegation will also join tourism leaders from across the region for the Future of Environmental and Sustainable Tourism in Albania (FESTA, Tirana, 3-5 April). Themed “Harnessing the power of South Eastern Europe through regional cooperation in tourism”, UNWTO will emphasize the vital importance of jobs, education and investment to build a more sustainable and inclusive tourism sector.
About UN Tourism
The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.
Our Priorities
Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.
Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.
Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.
Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.
Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.
Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.
Our Structure
Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.
Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.
Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.
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