NOSU became an affiliate member of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). An announcement in this regard was made in Baku during an executive board meeting of the UNWTO. North Ossetia University was accepted into the organization together with the Croatia Tourism Committee, the Russia Union for Tourism Development and the Saudi Arabia Higher Institute of Tourism and the Hotel Business.

The World Tourism Organization is a specialized, inter-government institution of the UN, bringing 158 countries together. It promotes responsible, stable and universally inclusive tourism. More than 500 affiliate members come from the private sector, training institutions, tourism associations and local administration.

There are thirteen Russian organizations in the UNWTO, six of them from the training sector. Ossetia University applied to become an affiliate last year, while a NOSU delegation visited the UN World Tourism Organization headquarters in Madrid as part of a business trip to Spain in May this year.

The university agreed to implement joint training programs with the organization’s Academies. North Ossetia is now able to become part of the Silk Route program, which is a platform for tourism development and the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the regions situated along the Silk Route.

NOSU’s department of Entrepreneurship, Services and Tourism certified their first group of tour guides last year. NOSU staff developed the professional retraining program. The aim of the project is to take tourism in North Ossetia to a new level.

Just a reminder that Russia is about to host the biggest tourist industry forum in the world. The general assembly of the UN World Tourist Organization will take place in St Petersburg from 9 to 13 September 2019. Delegations from more than 150 countries will attend the event. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, will participate in the discussion of global objectives in the field of tourism.