Visit of the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Ambika Soni to Colombia

The Hon’ble Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mrs. Ambika Soni, visited Cartagena de las Indias in Colombia on 25-29 November 2007 to participate in the 17th General Assembly of the UNWTO.
The Minister who was accompanied by the Ambassador, the Additional Director General of the Ministry of Tourism and her PS, greeted the President of the Republic of Colombia, Mr. Alvaro Uribe Velez and had fruitful interactions with the Colombian Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, Mr. Luis Guillermo Plata.  The Minister had one to one bilateral interactions with the Ministers of Tourism of Brazil, China, Israel, Indonesia, Korea and other countries where important issues relating to the concerns of the developing countries in the UNWTO and mechanism for promotion of tourism were discussed.  The Minister also met with the Secretary General of the UNWTO, Mr. Francisco Frangialli and discussed issues concerning promotion of international tourism through the UNWTO.
The Minister addressed the 17th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly where she outlined the innovative measures being undertaken by India to promote tourism.  While expressing satisfaction with the work being undertaken by the UNWTO towards promoting global tourism, the Minister made suggestions to make the organization more efficient and dynamic, and prevent introduction of issues such as climate change from becoming a barrier to promotion of tourism.
India was elected to the Executive Council of the UNWTO from Asia along with Iran and thereafter was elected unanimously as the President of the Executive Council of the UNWTO for the period 2008-09.  

 

The Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Luis Guillermo Plata receives a gift from the Indian Minister of Tourism and Culture Mrs. Ambika Soni