The emergence of the World Tourism Organization

Originated as a conference organized international federations tourist transport official, who founded in 1925 in The Hague, and after World War II. Amended its name to the International Union of Official Travel Organizations and moved to Geneva. This was Union Organization of technical and non-governmental organizations and the number of members to 109 during the peak tourist organizations and national chaperones and 88 members, including groups in the public and private sectors in the world. In 1967 members of the student union convert it to a government entity authorized to conduct international agreements on a global basis regarding all matters related to tourism and to cooperate with other competing organizations, especially those of the United Nations system, such as the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the International Civil Aviation Organization. The decision was made for the same purpose in 1969 by the General Assembly of the United Nations to organize the central role of the union, which must be played in the field of tourism in collaboration with entities located within the United Nations. After the resolution passed the Statute of the World Tourism Organization in 1974 by the countries that belong to the official tourist organizations of the International Federation of the aforementioned. The first of the new organization held their general assemblies in Madrid in 1975, and appointed the General Secretariat in Madrid beginning of the year following a proposal from the Spanish government, which provided the headquarters building of the year. In 1976 the organization became an executive agency of the United Nations Programme for Development. In 1977, and signed a formal cooperation agreement with the United Nations itself, and in 2003 transformed the organization into a specialized agency of the United Nations. In 2005, the number of members to 145 countries and seven regions and approximately 350 members representing the Managing Director of the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.