Taleb Rifai, current Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), spoke to students today at the Yerevan State University about tomorrow’s historic signing of an agreement between a number of Armenian tourist organizations and his agency.

Mr. Rifai said that he had been on a six month lobbying mission to get Armenian tour operators, hotels, tourist associations and others to sign the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism in order to maximize tourism’s socio-economic contribution while minimizing its possible negative impacts.

Armenian will be the fourth nation to sign off on the Ethics Code after France, Italy and Spain.

Mr. Rifai stated that tourists are becoming increasingly particular about their accommodations and will often not stay in hotels that leave a negative imprint on the environment.

Turning to Armenia’s potential attractiveness to foreign tourists, Mr. Rifai noted that, “The world is full of beaches. People have grown tired of them. But not every country has your mountains, cuisine, music and culture. This makes Armenia unique.”

UNWTO’s membership includes 155 countries, 7 territories and over 400 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.