20 January 2021
UNWTO’s Election held in January, Instead of May, to minimize the Chances of Other nominees against the incumbent Secretary General, H.E: UN World Tourism Organization’s secretary general election came in in difficult circumstances
Her Excellency Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and the candidate of the Kingdom of Bahrain for the position of Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said that the elections, which resulted in the victory of Georgia’s nominee, Zurab Pololikashvili, incumbent Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization, were held in an atmosphere that ‘did not reflect fair competition between the candidates and under difficult circumstances’.
The 113th session of the UNWTO Executive Council’s meeting, on 19 January 2021, also included the election for the position of UNWTO Secretary-General for the term 2022-2025.
H.E added saying that the election process was rescheduled and moved forward from its usual date in May to January, a decision which prevented UNTWO member states to complete their nomination files in due time, and decreased hugely the chances of nominees to organize an effective nomination candidacy’s process, hampering from running an effective election campaigns. In addition, H.E also pointed out that both UNWTO’s previous Secretary-generals, His Excellency Dr. Taleb Al-Rifaie, and His Excellency Francesco Frangialli, have opposed and written a statement against changing the date of the UNWTO Secretary-General election.
Notwithstanding H.E Shaikha Mai stated that she feels happy and honored to represent the Kingdom of Bahrain in such a global event, saying that, “I extend my sincerest gratitude to the Wise Leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain, headed by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, May God Protect Him, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Communication Centre for their support in this campaign, as well as the UNWTO Executive Council and all the countries that supported the nomination of the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
H.E also stated that she would continue to work locally, regionally and internationally to support the tourism sector and deploy strenuous efforts to develop cultural tourism infrastructure, achieving sustainable development goals and assist local communities. H.E said: “Cultural and tourism outstanding achievements can be attained anywhere by the right person working methodically. Cooperation and shared efforts would make our cities success story models with regard to development and sustainable development”.
Worth to mention that H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa has contributed to place Bahrain on the World tourism map through the development of the touristic product and diversification of tourism markets. Indeed, H.E launched many pioneering initiatives and word-class cultural tourism seasons, establishing many important cultural and tourist monuments and iconic venues. In addition, H.E succeeded to inscribe three Bahraini archeological and cultural sites on UNESCO World Heritage List, heralding Bahrain’s glorious legacy internationally when H.E received key international award recognitions, such as Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, H.E’s Revitalization of Muharraq” ,Winner of 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Golden Lion to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the best national participation at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2010.
H.E. Shaikha Mai has been widely recognized as a pioneering figure in the Arab cultural scene. H.E is the President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), and, Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research. H.E. Shaikha Mai is the recipient of many distinguished awards, not least the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, the Watch Award of the World Monuments Fund and the Colbert Prize for Creativity and Heritage. H.E Shaikha Mai Al Khalifa is also recognized as an outstanding leader of organisations within both the governmental and non-governmental sectors, having received the 'Distinguished Arab Woman in the field of Administrative Leadership' prize from the Center of Woman Studies, Paris, in 2004 and the Arab League prize for Administrative Competence and Excellence. H.E’s “Invest in Culture” pioneering project a decade ago has succeeded to create a challenging cultural and tourism infrastructure’ schemes and projects worth 150 million dollars.
