Leaders from CHINA READY and United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) took time out from a series of high level meetings and events in the United Kingdom to get together in London to discuss initiatives involving collaboration between the two organizations.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to brief UNWTO on CHINA READY’s involvement in next year’s Milan World Expo.
UNWTO is the United Nations Agency responsible for promoting tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability. Its membership includes more than 156 countries.
UNWTO generates market knowledge, promotes competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments, fosters tourism, education and training, and works to make tourism an effective tool for development through technical assistance projects in over 100 countries around the world.
UNWTO is headed up by its exceptionally talented, charismatic and visionary Secretary-General, Dr. Taleb Rifai.
Dr. Taleb Rifai is a Jordanian national with broad experience encompassing architecture, urban design, engineering, large-scale privatization and restructuring.
He was CEO of Jordan’s largest publically listed company before entering politics where he served in a range of ministerial portfolios in the Government of Jordan. Dr. Rifai also served as Assistant Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO) prior to joining UNWTO.
Dr. Rifai served his first term as Secretary-General between 2010 and 2013 and in 2014 was elected for a second four-year term by the 20th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly.
Recognizing the importance of China, UNWTO has two Chinese Nationals serving as part of the UNWTO management team.
Mr. Zhu Shanzhong is currently serving as the Executive Director for Technical Cooperation and Services at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Mr Zhu was previously Vice Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), and amongst other roles was responsible for overseeing international relations, as well as marketing and promotions in both China’s domestic and overseas markets.
Mr. Xu Jing is currently Director for Asia and the Pacific at UNWTO’s Madrid headquarters. In addition to his regional responsibilities he was appointed UNWTO’s Director-Executive Secretary of the General Assembly and the Executive Council in January 2014.
Mr. Xu Jing began his career at the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) where he was in charge of the international division.
He joined UNWTO in 1992 as Officer to the Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific. Over the years he has coordinated and supervised numerous UNWTO technical cooperation projects and sectoral support missions on subjects of contemporary interest to the tourism community of Asian countries.