C T Online Desk: The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood presented his credentials to the Secretary General of the world body Zurab Pololikashvili at its headquarters’ in Madrid.
Redwan Ahmed, Commercial Counsellor and Alternate PR of Bangladesh to UNWTO, BekaJakeli Chief, Member Relations of UNWTO and Harry Hwang, Director, Regional Department for Asia and the Pacific were also present during the presentation which was followed by a meeting held on Wednesday (Feb 9).
Pololikashvili gave welcoming words and thanked Ambassador for his presence. Mahmood also thanked the Secretary General of the UNWTO for his cooperation.
Mahmood also thanked for UNWTO support while Shahid Hamid, a successful tourism business entrepreneur from Bangladesh was finally elected as an alternate member to the UNWTO World Committee on Tourism Ethics.
UNWTO Best Tourism Villages initiative was also a matter of discussion. The UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili offered his organisation’s guidance to promote rural destinations in Bangladesh and explain the point system on which tourism villages were valued by an independent commission.
Pololikashvili also acknowledged that most of the winning villages were located in Europe, so for the next edition they would like to include a more diverse list of villages including Bangladesh.
Secretary General Pololikashvili informed about the upcoming Global Youth Tourism Summit from 27 June to 3 July 2022 in Sorrento, Italy and requested to send young delegates from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh embassy’s Commercial Counsellor Redwan Ahmed raised a request to share some Promotional Videos of Bangladesh at UNWTO’s YouTube channel, website and any other available means, with the backdrop of the celebration of ‘Victory Day of Bangladesh’ on December 16 and ‘Independence Day’ on March 26. The Secretary General also proposed to publish the mentioned videos in UNWTO website.
Ways to promote tourism investing was also on the table. The Secretary General offered UNWTO cooperation in this matter for technical design. Redwan Ahmed also mentioned that Bangladesh Government is also developing special economic zones to promote tourism exclusively.
The meeting ended with both parties’ commitment on being in touch for any possible future issues of cooperation.
