Where is the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization?

When it comes to WTO, many people will naturally think that China will soon join the World Trade Organization. In fact, the United Nations still has a WTO, that is, the World Tourism Organization.

The World Tourism Organization (WTO), established in 1975, is an intergovernmental international tourism organization headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and currently has 139 full members. Its predecessor was 1925, the "International Official Tourism Alliance" established in the Netherlands. Activities were suspended during World War II, and 1946 was rebuilt in Geneva.

As the only intergovernmental organization in the global tourism policy and issues forum, the World Tourism Organization aims to promote the development of tourism and make it an important tool to enhance international peace and understanding, economic development and international trade.

1979, the World Tourism Organization designated September 27th as "world tourism day" every year, and chose a country as the main venue for the celebration. The main venue of this year's "9.27" is located in Iran, with the theme of "Tourism: A Bridge for Peace and Dialogue in the World Civilized Society". Next year, the main venue will be chosen in Costa Rica with the theme of "Eco-tourism: the key to sustainable development". In 2003, the main venue will be in Algeria, with the theme of "Tourism: An Important Factor in Reducing Poverty, Increasing Employment and Social Harmony".

The highest body of the WTO is the Congress, which is held every two years. The participants are representatives of full members and non-full members.

This is the most important meeting for government tourism officials. Since 1975 WTO was formally established, 13 meetings have been held.

As a branch of the WTO General Assembly, the six regional commissions meet once a year, and their main functions are to keep in touch with each other, and to submit suggestions and convey concerns to the secretariat of the General Assembly between the two conferences. Each committee shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members for a term of two years.

The WTO has maintained friendly and cooperative relations with China for many years. It often presents relevant materials to China and invites China to participate in various activities sponsored by the WTO. China National Tourism Administration also invited the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization and other officials to participate in the celebrations of china international travel mart and world tourism day. From 65438 to 0975, our former ambassador to Spain attended the founding meeting of the organization. 1983 10 China became a full member of the World Tourism Organization at the fifth plenary meeting held in the Indian capital, New Delhi. From September 24th to June 5438+1 October1,China successfully won the right to host the World Tourism Organization's 2003 15 plenary session in Seoul, Korea and Osaka, Japan.