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A new international organization in the field of tourism will appear in the world - the International Council for Sustainable Tourism Development. The decision to create it was made at the site of the International Industry Forum in Cairo on February 1, 2023, Alexey Volkov, president of the National Union of the Hospitality Industry (OSIG) operating in Russia, told RG.
The participants see the new association of non-governmental organizations as an alternative platform for a constructive dialogue between countries in the face of growing geopolitical tensions in the world, Volkov explained. The member countries of the Council expect to jointly address the issues of sustainable development of tourism, restructuring of tourism logistics and redirecting tourist flows. The agenda also includes integration with new partners and the formation of new international routes.
The association was initiated by the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly and OSIG. The Council is created by non-governmental organizations - branch associations of enterprises in the tourism industry. At the first stage, representatives of Russia, Egypt, Syria, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Peru, Armenia, Tajikistan are planning to enter the Council. They expressed their readiness to actively participate in solving the problems of tourism development at the international level.
Representatives of Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and other countries will be invited to participate in the work of the Council through the existing and opening Representative Offices of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly. China and India will be able to take part in the work of the Council through the OSIG representative offices in these countries.
At the next stage, the BRICS and SCO countries will be invited to take part in the Council, Alexey Volkov noted.
In June 2022, Russia withdrew from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) after an international body suspended Russia's membership in April. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the EU countries have actually monopolized the UNWTO and are using it in their own interests, pushing through political decisions.
Evgeniy Gaiva