India, June 7 -- Francesco Frangialli, former UNWTO Secretary General from 1997 to 2009, had had enough after the UN-Tourism Executive Council surprisingly recommended a mostly unknown lady from the United Arab Emirates, Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais, as the organization's next Secretary General, but ignored a request by a European member state to restrict activities by the current Secretary General.

In the meantime, despite efforts by Francesco Frangialli and Czechia, a member state of the EU, the current UN-Tourism Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili, managed to ignore a vote requested by Czechia for the Executive Council, forcing him to step down and have an independent committee take over the affairs until December 31.

On January 1,...