Alain St. Ange Welcomes Historic Appointment of Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais as First Female UN Tourism Secretary-General

Alain St. Ange, one of the 2017 candidates for the post of Secretary-General at UNWTO and former Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports, and Marine of the Seychelles, has added his voice to the positive news emerging from the UN-Tourism General Assembly in Saudi Arabia.

St. Ange, who was among the leading candidates during the 2017 UNWTO elections when Zurab Pololikashvili secured the organization’s highest office, reacted following the confirmation of a new Secretary-General.

“I join the world of tourism in welcoming Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais from the UAE as the new Secretary-General of UN-Tourism. This long-overdue good news will help put UN-Tourism back on track. It is essential for the global tourism industry to again view the organization as a respected body—one that operates with full transparency and engages meaningfully with industry stakeholders,” said Alain St. Ange.

Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais of the United Arab Emirates, now confirmed as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) and scheduled to assume office on January 1, 2026, will require the support of tourism ministers and the wider tourism sector.

“Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais will need to be accessible to the press and work cohesively with the global tourism community. She becomes the first woman to lead this global organization, and I join the community of nations in saying, ‘Welcome,’” added St. Ange.

Shaikha Al Nowais succeeds Zurab Pololikashvili of Georgia, who has served two consecutive terms since 2018. “I wish the incoming Secretary-General a successful mandate. May she learn from Pololikashvili’s time in office, unite the global tourism industry, and embrace the capable and respected former Secretaries-General of the UNWTO,” St. Ange concluded.

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Press release 

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Clevenard

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Tolu Osindero

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