The Tourism Minister met with three of the candidates for Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organisation

The reason: The election of the Secretary-General for the period 2026-2029, and Bulgaria has voting rights as a member of the Executive Board of UN Tourism

Within a month, Minister Miroslav Borshosh received in Sofia three of the candidates for the post of Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) for the period 2026-2029 – Ms Gloria Guevara from Mexico, Mr Harry Theoharis from Greece and the current Secretary General Mr Zurab Pololikashvili from Georgia.

There are six officially announced candidates for Secretary-General, with the other contenders for the post being Mr Muhamed Adam of Ghana, Ms Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais of the United Arab Emirates and Mr Habib Ammar of Tunisia.

During the talks, in addition to the concepts for the development of the organization over the next four years, the Minister of Tourism discussed with the candidates from Mexico, Greece and Georgia their visions for the future of Destination Europe, as well as the possibilities for new concrete initiatives related to Bulgaria.

Minister Miroslav Borshosh expressed his desire for closer cooperation within the organization on key priorities for Bulgaria – sustainable development, diversification of the tourism product, education and training of personnel in the sector, better positioning and promotion of the country, as well as attracting investment in tourism.

Ms. Gloria Guevara presented her vision for the development of the organization related to the promotion of sustainability, public-private partnerships and competitiveness of the tourism sector in Europe.

Mr. Harry Theoharis pointed to the strengthening of sustainable tourism policies, the promotion of cooperation between member countries, digitisation and innovation as key tools to address the challenges of the sector globally.

Mr Zurab Pololikashvili's proposals for the next four years include the development of new types of tourism such as urban, shopping and sectoral tourism, as well as building on existing programmes. He also proposes the continued promotion of wine, sports and gastronomy tourism congresses, along with the opening of new academies and regional offices.

Bulgaria is an active member of the Executive Board of the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) for the period 2023-2027, with voting rights on key decisions. At its upcoming meeting on 29-30 May in Madrid, the Council will choose its favourite for the post of Secretary-General, and the final vote will take place in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when the General Assembly will determine the new head of the organisation.