Dhaka: Six candidates for the post of UN Tourism Secretary-General will compete to lead World Tourism starting in 2026.

The election will be held during the 123rd session of the UN Tourism Executive Council Meeting in Madrid on May 29-30, 2025. The elected candidate must be confirmed at the next UN Tourism General Assembly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The candidates are:

1. Mr. Muhammad Adam (Ghana)
2. Ms. Shaikha Al Nowais (United Arab Emirates)
3. Mr. Habir Ammar (Tunisia)
4. Ms. Gloria Guevara (Mexico)
5. Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili (Georgia)
6. Mr. Harry Theoharis (Greece)

The competition can officially begin, and the manipulation by the current secretary and third-time candidate from Georgia is also reaching a new height in UN history.

Instead of using two terms as his legacy, Zurab Pololikashvili, who has been ignoring UN agency policies for a two-time term limit, found a way to manipulate rules based on a technicality so he can hold on to his chair for another term. What is outrageous is that Zurab just released his statement that he wanted Madrid to be a symbol of international tourism by opening a new headquarters primarily financed with Spanish and Saudi money.

He ignores ongoing criminal investigations against him in Madrid and the fact that Spain will not vote for him and that he won the two previous elections only due to manipulation and fraud. While he claimed to concentrate on daily issues and UN tourism goals, he has been using UN resources for his campaign, promising countries with executive council status to host regional UN tourism centers, such as Brazil or Morocco. Only countries with executive council status are allowed to vote.

-N