Mzembi meets King of Spain

TOURISM and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi joined other tourism ministers from around the world yesterday, to attend a reception cocktail hosted by His Majesty, King Felipe VI of Spain, at Palacio de El Pardo, the official residence of the Monarch on the outskirts of Madrid in Spain.

Dr Mzembi, who is the SADC and African Union-endorsed candidate for the position of United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General, extended his gratitude to King Felipe VI, and that of the Government of Zimbabwe for receiving him at the palace and for the cordial relations that exist between Zimbabwe and Spain.

Minister Mzembi said he was happy to visit Spain for FITUR, IFEMA and to attend the UNWTO meetings that take place during Spain’s annual travel market — the third most important in the world after London’s World Travel Market and Berlin’s International Travel Bourse.

In his interaction with the King of Spain, Dr Mzembi shared with him how he had been nominated by the Government of Zimbabwe, and subsequently endorsed by both SADC and the African Union as Africa’s candidate for the post of secretary general of the UNWTO.

Responding in a similarly lighthearted manner, and to the appreciative, supportive merriment of the assembled ministers, Dr Mzembi quipped, “Your Majesty, please be prepared to receive credentials from Africa — as I plan to be your guest for the coming eight years”.

Nominations for the post of secretary general have to be deposited with the UNWTO secretariat by March 11, at the latest.

Elections for the post will be held during the course of the 105th UNWTO executive council which is scheduled to take place in Madrid from 11 to 12 May.

The new secretary general will take up his or her post on January 1, 2018, for an initial mandate of four years, renewable once. The current secretary general, Dr Taleb Rifai, a Jordanian, has held the post for the past eight years.