At the twentieth meeting of the General Assembly held at Livingstone on the 28th of August 2013, the UNWTO announced the reelection of Mr. Taleb Rifai as Secretary-General.The executive council of the UNWTO decided, at its 95th session (Belgrade, Serbia, May 28th); to recommend Mr. Rifai as a candidate for the position of Secretary-General for a second term, from 2014-2017. Mr. Rifai being a Jordanian, his candidacy was presented by Jordan, as to the statutes of the UNWTO.Mr. Rifai began his career as an architecture teacher in urban planning at the University of Jordan, from 1973 to 1993. He was the first leader of the Economic Mission in Washington DC, where he promoted commerce, investment, and economic relations between Jordan and the United States. He also assumed different ministerial functions within the Jordanian government: Minister of tourism and heritage, Minister of information, and Minister of planning and international cooperation before becoming Secretary-General of the UNWTO in 2009.Find the video of Mr. Taleb Rifai's speech at the Global Lodging Forum, last February 25th, on the expected changes in the international tourism flow.
