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Dr Mzembi

Isdore Guvamombe Tourism Matrix
Next week, the World Tourism family elects a new secretary general to replace the maverick Dr Taleb Rifai, who has been at the helm for two mandatory terms.

Since its inception in 1975, UNWTO has never been run by an African and African Union backed candidate Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Dr Walter Mzembi is fighting it out with six other candidates for the top job.

Dr Rifai has done a lot for UNWTO but tourism has now entered a new age: and the global environment which has characterised his tenure of office has changed and indeed continues to change — quite dramatically in some respects — presenting new, multi-faceted challenges for our sector and, inevitably, for your successor. The threat of terror — specifically directed at the tourism industry — is now more pronounced than ever before.

Equally, the impact on travel of natural disasters, many of them the direct consequence of the phenomenon of climate change. The new secretary general, whose stature, depth of character and knowledge fits Dr Mzembi, will face a new and intensifying trend towards isolationism and intolerance by state administrations.

He or she will also have to contend with the apparent shift towards unilateralism and the nationalistic politics of the far right, the threat of cyber-terrorism and the unintended consequences of the ICT revolution; and it is clear that whoever assumes the post of secretary general, will have his or her hands full with a vastly changed global environment will have to grapple with the impact of political decisions emanating from nation states against each other — where diplomacy has been sacrificed on the altar of nationalistic unilateralism : and where tourism-economies find themselves at the mercy of such extreme politics.

Accordingly, the incoming secretary general, will have to be suitably equipped — in terms of qualification, professional experience, general aptitude and craft-competence — to successfully confront those challenges and to effectively respond to the expectations of UNWTO members in this changing world.

That means voters will have a number of questions relative to the pedigree and calibre of the person the tourism family wishes to deploy to Capitan Haya Street in Madrid and, obviously, the direction UNWTO should take going forward.

Dr Mzembi is not only the most educated among the candidates but is also the most experienced, the most qualified in terms of knowledge of the international tourism turf, the political turf and indeed the tourism business turf, given that he has since 2010, sat in the UNWTO executive council and has for two consecutive terms been the chair of the UNWTO African Commission.

Dr Mzembi is also that man who, against all odds won the bid for Zimbabwe and Zambia to co-host the UNWTO General Assembly, for the first time in Africa, South of the Sahara.

With such deliverable, Dr Mzembi is certainly a man about to make history next week. Admittedly, this is not a purely sectoral contest. It is not purely about tourism and it is not a contest devoid of political content or context.

It is, rather, a quest to find the best, most qualified, most competent person to lead us into the future. The quest is decided by way of an election. The electoral college — the Executive Council — comprises 33 member states, each one, nominally at any rate, representing 5 others.

It is the council which comes up with a single candidate to recommend to the general assembly but, to what extent, if any, do those 33 members consult with the broader membership they represent, with regard to the election of the secretary general, remains the question? But whichever form it comes, Dr Mzembi is the best and equal to the task, everything else being equal.