Chisinau will host for the first time the Meeting of the Commission for Europe of the United Nations World Tourism Organization next May, director of the Tourism Agency Stanislav Rusu announced in a press briefing, IPN reports.

The Agency’s director noted that the decision was taken in this year’s Meeting that was held in Vilnius on May 25. The goal of the event is to put Moldova on the list of European tourist destinations. A benefit will be the fact that the Meeting in Chisinau will be broadly covered by the international media. As a result of this event, the Tourism Agency aims to benefit from a number of projects at bilateral and multilateral levels.

According to Stanislav Rusu, the Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe usually involves the Organization’s Secretary General, ministers and directors of tourism authorities from over 40 European states. “It is a platform for discussing problems faced in the field of tourism at European level, the plans and solutions for the immediate future and important decisions at European level,” he stated.

The Tourism Agency’s director also said that the Meeting considers possibilities of making the tourism sector a stimulating factor for economic growth and prosperity in Europe.

Within the Meeting, the Tourism Agency plans to stage a roundtable centering on wine tourism. “We will request our colleagues from Europe to include Moldova in the European wine route. The wine tourism product is highly appreciated by the European colleagues and by the WTO Secretary General,” stated Stanislav Rusu.

Moldova joined the World Tourism Organization as a fully-fledged member in 2000.