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Structure
The bodies of the World Tourism Organization are the:
General Assembly
The General Assembly is the principal gathering of the World Tourism Organization. It meets every two years to approve the budget and programme of work and to debate topics of vital importance to the tourism sector. Every four years it elects a Secretary-General. The General Assembly is composed of Full Members and Associate Members. Affiliate Members and representatives of other international organizations participate as observers.
The World Committee on Tourism Ethics is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.
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Regional Commissions
UNWTO has six regional commissions-Africa, the Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. The commissions meet at least once a year and are composed of all the Full Members and Associate Members from that region. Affiliate Members from the region participate as observers.
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Executive Council
The Executive Council is UNWTO's governing board, responsible for ensuring that the Organization carries out its work and adheres to its budget. It meets at least twice a year and is composed by Members elected by the General Assembly in a ratio of one for every five Full Members. As host country of UNWTO´s Headquarters, Spain has a permanent seat on the Executive Council. Representatives of the Associate Members and Affiliate Members participate in Executive Council meetings as observers.
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Committees
Specialized committees of UNWTO Members advise on management and programme content. These include: the Programme and Budget Committee, the Committee on Statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account, the Committee on Market and Competitiveness, the Sustainable Development of Tourism Committee, the World Committee on Tourism Ethics and the Committee for the Review of applications for Affiliate Membership.
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Secretariat
The Secretariat is led by Secretary-General Taleb Rifai of Jordan, who supervises about 110 full-time staff at UNWTO's Madrid Headquarters. These officials are responsible for implementing UNWTO's programme of work and serving the needs of Members. The Affiliate Members are supported by a full-time Executive Director at the Madrid Headquarters. The Secretariat also includes a regional support office for Asia-Pacific in Nara, Japan, financed by the Japanese Government. The official languages of UNWTO are Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
