Taleb Rifai Former Secretary-General of UNWTO, Spain

Taleb Rifai is former Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). He began his four-year term January 2010 and was re-elected for a second term starting January 2014. Past positions include Assistant Director General of the International Labour Organization, ministerial portfolios in Jordan (Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Minister of Information and Minister of Tourism and Antiquity), CEO of Jordan’s Cement Company, Director of the Economic Mission to Washington DC, and Director General of the Investment Promotion Corporation of Jordan. With PhD in Urban Design and Regional Planning (University of Pennsylvania), Master in Engineering and Architecture (Illinois Institute of Technology), and BS in Architectural Engineering (University of Cairo in Egypt), he has published and taught architecture and urban design in Jordan and the United States.