(Posted 10th November 2025)
ATCNews extends warm congratulations to the newly elected Secretary General of UN Tourism, Shaikha Al Nowais, who will be the first ever woman to be elected to the post, but also the youngest person to ever head the UN’s tourism agency at only 38 years.
Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais is an Emirati business leader with over 16 years of experience in global hospitality. As Corporate Vice President at Rotana Hotels, she has overseen owner relations across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Turkey. A graduate of Zayed University in Finance, she also chairs the Abu Dhabi Chamber’s Tourism Working Group and serves on the boards of the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council and Les Roches Hospitality Academy.
Her election also brings to an end of the previously unprecedented power grab by outgoing Zurab Pololikashvili, who tried to embed and impose himself on the organization for a third term – an attempt eventually halted by the government of Georgia which thankfully formally withdrew their support for such a brazen attempt to stay in power – dictator style.
Pololikashvili, who had been Secretary General since 2018, had launched a campaign for a third term, but the move was hugely controversial – as was much of his term of office – and faced very strong opposition from both former UN Tourism officials and key member states who favored mandatory term limits to avoid the organization being run like a personal property.
The decision was taken after an intense debate at the previous meeting of the 119th UNWTO Executive Council, which approved, with 19 votes in favor, 12 against and one abstention, to recommend the proposal to the General Assembly, where two-thirds of the votes present were needed to give the green light to Pololikashvili’s re-election.
In the end, the vote in the Assembly left the now finally outgoing secretary general staring at the ruin of his schemes to remain in power and continue to rule and run the organization.: 65 countries voted in favor and 38 against when the vote was called, a clear sign of the massive opposition around the world against his schemes.
Former UNWTO SG Francesco Frangialli and Taleb Rifai explain why they wanted Pololikashvili’s bid for a third term halted:
‘It saddens us to witness the state of our beloved UNWTO over the past eight years. The open letter by two former UNWTO Secretary Generals, Francesco Frangialli and Taleb Rifai, is a powerful message to UN-Tourism member states, tourism ministers, and members of the UN-Tourism Executive Council and a warning to maintain the integrity of the organization in critical times‘ – sentiments fully shared by ATCNews for that matter.
The two former Secretary Generals – and globally most respected individuals – then wrote further:
‘We are deeply concerned about the events that have unfolded since Zurab Pololikashvili’s election in 2017. It saddens us to witness the state of our beloved UNWTO over the past eight years.
We are proud that under our two mandates, tourism has gained recognition from the international community. Ignored at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and absent from the UN Millennium Development Goals, tourism emerged on the international scene in 2002 with the International Year of Ecotourism and the plan of action adopted by the UN at its Johannesburg Summit.
Tourism’s role was consequently enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals. It’s final recognition came in 2004 when the World Tourism Organization was converted into a full-fledged agency of the UN System. WTO became UNWTO. The recent appellation of “UN Tourism” does not bring anything new. It’s a farce since an amendment to its Statutes has not modified the organization’s name.’
For further information also click on and read: https://bm.ge/en/news/he-tried-something-that-did-not-deserve-a-response-but-deserved-the-withdrawal-of-his-candidacy-kobakhidze
