Within the Spanish International Fair of Tourism (FITUR 2017) in Madrid, the year 2017 has been ceremoniously designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations.

Assistant Minister for Tourism Renata Pindžo participated in the ceremony, and during her stay in Madrid she met with the UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai and the UNWTO Regional Director for Europe, Isabel Garana. They talked about the cooperation and potential UNWTO projects within the “Development Partnership Framework 2016-2020 of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the UN Team to Serbia (UNDAF 2016-2020)”, and about the conference to be organise by the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the UNTWO in June 2017, regarding sustainable tourism in the Danube region.

Ms Pindžo has also repeated the words of the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organisation Taleb Rifai that tourism is becoming more and more recognised as a sector which might help and serve in creating a better world. He said that this year was a unique an opportunity to promote the contribution of tourism and achieving the future we want and that we need to jointly define the role of tourism in the agenda of sustainable development, until 2030 and beyond.

The UN General Assembly, in its 70th session in 2015 made a decision to devote the year 2017 to the contribution of tourism to sustainable development.

A successful cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the World Tourism Organisation, and great reputation of our country as a member, confirm the second successive mandate (for the period 2013-2017) in the Executive Council of this world organisation.