Morocco has been voted to host the 24th Session of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) scheduled for 2021, beating three other countries to it, a statement from the body said on Friday.
The city of Marrakesh will host the WTO gathering but the exact dates for it are yet to be confirmed.
The North African kingdom won the right to host the next WTO forum at the end of its 23rd General Assembly in St Petersburg.
At the end of the forum, member nations of the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, were asked to choose between Morocco, Kenya and the Philippines.
The competing countries presented their candidatures during the session during which they professed their commitment to accessibility and sustainability and for using tourism as a driver for job creation and economic growth.
Reacting to Morocco’s election UNWTO General-Secretary Zurab Pololikashvili described the kingdom as a long-standing ally of the organisation.
“Morocco also showed it has the infrastructure and the commitment necessary to host the most important high-level even for the global tourism sector. At the same time, I thank both Kenya and the Philippines for their candidatures. Both presented exceptionally strong cases” the UNWTO chief said.
For the first time at a UNWTO General Assembly, an anonymous electronic voting system, with one vote per member state was used to elect the winnes.
This represents a departure from paper ballots to bring UNWTO in line with other United Nations agencies.
WN/as/APA