Greece Submits Candidacy for UNWTO Executive Council Position

Aiming to strengthen the international presence of Greece, the Greek Tourism Ministry on Thursday said that the country has submitted its application to occupy one of the seats allocated to the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the 2018 – 2021 four-year term.

The Executive Council is UNWTO’s governing board, responsible for ensuring that the ‎organization carries out its work and adheres to its budget. It meets at least twice a year and is ‎composed by members elected by the General Assembly in a ratio of one for every ‎five Full Members. As host country of UNWTO’s headquarters, Spain has a permanent ‎seat on the Executive Council. Representatives of the Associate Members and Affiliate ‎Members participate in Executive Council meetings as observers.

Moreover, the tourism ministry said that Dimitris Tryfonopoulos, who until now served as the secretary general of the Greek Tourism Organization (GNTO), has been appointed as an adviser to the UNWTO.

The ministry said that the decision was taken following a consultation with UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai and falls into the framework of the ministry’s excellent cooperation with the UNWTO and aim to strengthen the Greek presence within the organization.