The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) held at its headquarters here today a special ceremony to inaugurate President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, as UNWTO Special Ambassador for the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 in recognition of her contribution to the promotion of sustainable cultural tourism.
UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, senior cultural and tourism sector officials, diplomats and media personalities attended the ceremony.
Addressing the ceremony, Shaikha Mai expressed pride in being designated UNWTO Special Ambassador, and extended sincere thanks and gratitude to UNWTO, led by Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, for selecting her to the post.
BACA president highlighted the importance of tourism in fostering dialogue among countries and peoples, increasing economic revenues and consolidating countries’ development status.
Talking about her projects in this regard, Shaikha Mai highlighted her keenness to intensify efforts to attract quality tourism to human heritage sites, noting that the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage in Manama has launched an integrated programme that is consistent with UNWTO’s 2017, themed "Sustainable Tourism for Development".
She asserted that the prestigious post will motivate her to bring about more achievements for the kingdom, stressing that Bahrain enjoys a distinguished position in various development fields thanks to the interest and support of the leadership, led by the "first supporter of culture", His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, also delivered a speech in which he expressed delight in the official inauguration of BACA President as Special Ambassador for the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017.
He also thanked Shaikha Mai, on behalf of UNWTO and the international tourism community for her fruitful efforts in boosting tourism and promoting it to become among the tourism attraction factors.
Dr. Rifai expressed UNWTO’s confidence in Shaikha Mai’s ability to boost cultural tourism at the regional and international levels.
It is worth noting that UNWTO has named seven prominent personalities as Ambassadors for the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, former Bulgarian Monarch King Simeon II, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, Michael Frenzel, President of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW) and Huayong Ge, CEO of UnionPay.

Source : BNA