UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, welcomed delegates to the 25th UNWTO General Assembly, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He stressed the importance of this Assembly as a collective effort for all Members to advance common priorities for the future of tourism: investments and education.

The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, also greeted delegates at the opening of tourism's most important week. He shared his full support to the active efforts of UNWTO to dynamically develop tourism in all regions of the world and turn it into one of the drivers of the world economy.

Europe's tourism leaders have met to advance plans for stronger collaboration both within and outside of the region, including through the landmark Agenda for Europe. The members of the Commission for Europe discussed and adopted the "Agenda for Europe – Tourism Leading the Change" to increasing cooperation levels.

Under the theme "Enhancing tourism through public-private cooperation" 150 participants, representing around 70 Affiliate Members met to debate the state of the Affiliate Membership, the main results achieved since the previous Plenary Session, analyse the evolution and results of the ongoing expansion strategy.

UNWTO rethinks sustainable tourism with the "Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism" Statistical Framework, enabling global data exchange for informed policies. The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) will be presented in the General Assembly for approval, with a view to presenting it to the United Nations Statistical Commission for its endorsement as the new statistical standard for tourism.

With a focus on the UNWTO Enabling Framework for Global Investments, the Investment Forum kicked off today:

• Panel discussions on the tourism investment landscape
• Launch of Tourism Investment Guidelines for Uzbekistan and Mauritius
• Announcement of the winners of the UNWTO Mega Events Startup Competition
• Mr. Albert, Co-founder of Traveloka, is named UNWTO Ambassador for Responsible Tourism

At the 119 Executive Council, the UNWTO Secretary-General updated Member States about the Organization's work since the previous Executive Council (Punta Cana, May 2023) as well as UNWTO's priorities looking ahead.