Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has been elected Chairperson of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa for 2017 – 2019.
Mr Balala was elected at the body's General Assembly currently taking place in Chengdu, China.
Six regional commissions were established in 1975 as subsidiaries of the General Assembly.
The UNWTO Commission for Africa is a channel African nations use to convey their concerns on their tourism sectors to the global body's secretariat.
The regional commissions enable member states to maintain contact with one another and with the Secretariat in between sessions of the General Assembly.
Each Commission elects one Chairman and its Vice-Chairmen from among its members for a term of two years commencing from one session to the next session of the Assembly.
The former Mvita MP will, therefore, be tasked with pushing Africa's tourism agenda on a global level for the next two years.
The Chair's seat on the Commission was held by Zimbabwe from 2015 – 2017.
Balala was appointed Kenya's Tourism Cabinet Secretary in 2015.
The one time Mombasa Mayor has been involved in the tourism sector for most of his career and is expected to bring a wealth of knowledge to his new post.
