2017-01-17
"We are blessed and honored to have the Prime Minister of a country that I think of very dearly. When it is about Georgia, I am biased. Georgia is a wonderful country, a country full of life and energy, the most beautiful people, happy and smiling, making you feel at home. I am very touched and honored that the Prime Minister of Georgia took time from his verybusy schedule and accepted to be here with us today," UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai stated after a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
The Secretary General thanked the Prime Minister for making time from his busy schedule to visit Madrid.
"When you travel all over the world, you start seeing beautiful things in every situation, and I must say, Georgia is a beautiful country," TalebRifai stated.
TalebRifai also addressed Georgian Foreign Minister MikheilJanelidze.
"Let me also welcome a very dear and special person, the Foreign Minister of Georgia, a very good and dear friend.As you can see, Georgia is full of young political talents. He is probably one of few people not working directly with tourism, but I can tell you, when we were upstairs for a few minutes, he and the Prime Minister were talking about tourism as if it were their own baby. I am sure you understand what I mean, because each of you who has been in charge of tourism for many years knows what it means to have support from the Prime Minister, from the Head of Government," TalebRifai asserted.
Giorgi Kvirikashvili thanked the Secretary General for his years-long support of Georgia's tourism sector.
During the meeting, which was held at the UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid, the dynamically developing partnership between Georgia and the World Tourism Organization was discussed.
After the meeting, Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Taleb Rifai unveiled the plate honoring the Georgian Prime Minister at the WTO Headquarters.
According to the Head of Georgian Government, each plate at the WTO Headquarters symbolizes the high-level support that the tourism sector receives from governments across the globe.
"We have all gathered here because we believe in the transformative power of tourism; we are united by the values, principals and ideals that tourism is the key means of developing people-to-people relations, exchanging cultures, and achieving economic prosperity. Each of us is here to exemplify that no matter the challenges the sector will remain strong and supportive of every destination," Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated.
According to the Prime Minister of Georgia, under the leadership of Secretary General Rifai, the UNWTO and the tourism industry have achieved tremendous success to become one of the most important social-economic sectors.
"The candidate for the position of Secretary General that Georgia is humbly nominating, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Georgia's Ambassador to UNWTO and Spain, with his very strong background in tourism-he is a former Minister of Economy overseeing the tourism sector-will become an excellent candidate for this very, very highly esteemed position. He will be a worthy successor to uphold the values and priorities deeply entrenched in this organization, with the personal contribution of Mr. Taleb Rifai," the Prime Minister stated and wished success to the participants of the International Tourism Fair.
The Prime Minister invited the guests to taste Georgian wine.
"With 8,000 years of wine-making traditions recognized by UNESCO, Georgia is considered to be the birthplace of wine, and we are happy to be able to share these traditions with you today," Giorgi Kvirikashvili addresses the guests.