UNWTO (the World Tourism Organization) has its own interpretation when it comes to the freedom of the press, and it doesn’t include U.S. based travel and tourism publication eTurboNews.

Under the leadership of UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, the United Nations seems to be joining countries or government associations, that see critical media as their enemies. Mr. Pololikashvili is from the Republic of Georgia, a country ranked “partially free” with a rank of 102 in the world of free media.

Even in the United States, where media is considered free and guaranteed under the first amendment of the U.S. constitution, U.S. President Donald Trump called critical media including CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post as enemies of the people. Fortunately, there is not much the president can do to stop the American media. The United States is considered number 33 and ranked as “free” in the world when it comes to freedom of the press.

The UN Specialized Agency for Tourism UNWTO has now openly declared eTurboNews as the enemy of world tourism.

The agency spent United Nations money to hire the law firm Case Lombardi & Pettie in Honolulu, Hawaii to deliver a demand email to Cease and Desist Defamatory Statements against UNWTO. The letter was emailed on November 21 to Juergen Steinmetz, publisher of eTurboNews.

The letter doesn’t explain what the complaint is referring to. The attorneys did not respond for the last 2 weeks after repeated letters and phone calls by eTurboNews. UNWTO also did not respond to inquiries by eTN.

Just two weeks earlier eTN Publisher Juergen Steinmetz met Marcelo Risi, Head of media relations of UNWTO during the recently concluded World Travel Market in London. Steinmetz urged Risi to re-open the channel of communication between eTurboNews and UNWTO to avoid any type of one-sided reports.

Ever since Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili was appointed to lead the tourism body as of January 1, 2018, no response was ever received to questions by eTurboNews reporters. Accreditation to the General Assembly in St. Petersburg Russia was denied for eTurboNews staff.

Reaching out to the Russian host was also without success. Russia is considered spot 174 in world press freedom and ranked as “not free”.

eTurboNews emails to UNWTO email receivers were blocked by the UN Specialized Agency during the General Assembly in September.

eTN had to contact UNWTO readers and suggested to them to subscribe with their personal email instead. The email eTN used to contact UNWTO staff was the same email the Honolulu law firm used to contact the eTurboNews publisher with their demand letter on behalf of UNWTO. After the eTN email to UNWTO staff, the internet web-server of this publication was hacked by an unknown attacker and the keyword “UNWTO” was temporarily erased during the criminal attack on this publication server.Tech experts by the hosting company deleted a malicious script and file implanted under the name “Iranian hacker” on the eTN server. It’s unclear if there is a connection between UNWTO and Iran. eTurboNews reported why Iran is important to UNWTO in December 2018. Iran is country number 190 when it comes to freedom of press and considered “not free.”

Despite the ongoing attack by UNWTO, eTurboNews continued to be the number one global publication covering the agencies’ press statements without edit and in a mostly positive way. As of today, eTurboNews published 3794 press-releases and stories on UNWTO over the last 12 years. It does not include articles published on the other publications under the TravelNewsGroup .

eTurboNews continued and will continue to report about UNWTO.
eTN Publisher Juergen Steinmetz said: “eTurboNews had received many confidential outcries for help from members of the inner circle within the UNWTO and only published a fraction of such feedback. We always crosscheck such content and provide an opportunity for UNWTO to comment. Ever since 2018 UNWTO has not responded to emails or phone calls and did not comment on eTurboNews. The Secretary-General did not invite eTN reporters to press- conferences and disallowed eTN to ask question at the only press conference this publication attended. The conference was by WTTC.”

eTurboNews worked with UNWTO for almost 20 years and represented the global media at the UNWTO task Group against sexual exploitation of children in tourism.

This task group was a priority under the former Secretary-General Dr. Taleb Rifai and was eliminated by Pololikashvili right after he took the helm. No reason was ever given to the members of the task group.

The worst five countries in the world when it comes to press freedom are Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Crimea. and North Korea. The best ratings in press freedom are recorded in Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and Denmark.

Freedom of the Press 2017
Country	Rank	Score	Status
Norway	1	08	Free
Netherlands	2	11	Free
Sweden	2	11	Free
Belgium	4	12	Free
Denmark	4	12	Free
Finland	4	12	Free
Switzerland	7	13	Free
Luxembourg	8	14	Free
Andorra	9	15	Free
Iceland	9	15	Free
Liechtenstein	9	15	Free
Palau	9	15	Free
Costa Rica	13	16	Free
Estonia	13	16	Free
Monaco	13	16	Free
Marshall Islands	16	17	Free
Portugal	16	17	Free
Saint Lucia	16	17	Free
San Marino	16	17	Free
Canada	20	18	Free
Ireland	20	18	Free
Barbados	22	19	Free
Jamaica	22	19	Free
New Zealand	22	19	Free
Germany	25	20	Free
Czech Republic	26	21	Free
Lithuania	26	21	Free
Micronesia	26	21	Free
Saint Kitts and Nevis	26	21	Free
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	26	21	Free
Australia	31	22	Free
Austria	31	22	Free
Bahamas	33	23	Free
Cyprus	33	23	Free
Malta	33	23	Free
Slovenia	33	23	Free
United States	33	23	Free
Uruguay	38	24	Free
Dominica	39	25	Free
Taiwan	39	25	Free
Trinidad and Tobago	39	25	Free
United Kingdom	39	25	Free
Vanuatu	39	25	Free
France	44	26	Free
Grenada	44	26	Free
Latvia	44	26	Free
Slovakia	44	26	Free
Belize	48	27	Free
Cape Verde	48	27	Free
Japan	48	27	Free
Solomon Islands	48	27	Free
Tuvalu	48	27	Free
São Tomé and Príncipe	53	28	Free
Spain	53	28	Free
Suriname	53	28	Free
Chile	56	29	Free
Mauritius	56	29	Free
Papua New Guinea	56	29	Free
Samoa	56	29	Free
Kiribati	60	30	Free
Tonga	60	30	Free
Italy	62	31	Partly Free
Namibia	63	32	Partly Free
Ghana	64	33	Partly Free
Israel	64	33	Partly Free
Antigua and Barbuda	66	34	Partly Free
Poland	66	34	Partly Free
South Korea	66	34	Partly Free
Timor-Leste	69	35	Partly Free
Benin	70	37	Partly Free
Mali	70	37	Partly Free
Mongolia	70	37	Partly Free
Guyana	73	38	Partly Free
Romania	73	38	Partly Free
South Africa	73	38	Partly Free
Burkina Faso	76	41	Partly Free
Croatia	76	41	Partly Free
El Salvador	76	41	Partly Free
Panama	76	41	Partly Free
Bulgaria	80	42	Partly Free
Dominican Republic	80	42	Partly Free
Hong Kong	80	42	Partly Free
India	83	43	Partly Free
Fiji	84	44	Partly Free
Greece	84	44	Partly Free
Hungary	84	44	Partly Free
Montenegro	84	44	Partly Free
Philippines	84	44	Partly Free
Botswana	89	45	Partly Free
Malawi	89	45	Partly Free
Peru	89	45	Partly Free
Argentina	92	46	Partly Free
Nauru	92	46	Partly Free
Brazil	94	47	Partly Free
Senegal	94	47	Partly Free
Kosovo	96	48	Partly Free
Mozambique	96	48	Partly Free
Comoros	98	49	Partly Free
Indonesia	98	49	Partly Free
Serbia	98	49	Partly Free
Seychelles	98	49	Partly Free
Georgia	102	50	Partly Free
Albania	103	51	Partly Free
Bosnia and Herzegovina	103	51	Partly Free
Côte d’Ivoire	103	51	Partly Free
Lesotho	103	51	Partly Free
Nigeria	103	51	Partly Free
Haiti	108	52	Partly Free
Nepal	108	52	Partly Free
Niger	108	52	Partly Free
Bolivia	111	53	Partly Free
Mauritania	111	53	Partly Free
Somaliland	111	53	Partly Free
Ukraine	111	53	Partly Free
Sierra Leone	115	54	Partly Free
Tunisia	115	54	Partly Free
Nicaragua	117	55	Partly Free
Lebanon	118	56	Partly Free
Moldova	118	56	Partly Free
Colombia	120	57	Partly Free
Togo	120	57	Partly Free
Bhutan	122	58	Partly Free
Guatemala	122	58	Partly Free
Kenya	122	58	Partly Free
Madagascar	122	58	Partly Free
Tanzania	122	58	Partly Free
Uganda	122	58	Partly Free
Guinea-Bissau	128	59	Partly Free
Paraguay	128	59	Partly Free
Afghanistan	130	60	Partly Free
Congo (Brazzaville)	130	60	Partly Free
Kuwait	130	60	Partly Free
Liberia	130	60	Partly Free
Sri Lanka	134	61	Not Free
Bangladesh	135	62	Not Free
Maldives	135	62	Not Free
Armenia	137	63	Not Free
Zambia	137	63	Not Free
Macedonia	139	64	Not Free
Mexico	139	64	Not Free
Algeria	141	65	Not Free
Pakistan	141	65	Not Free
Cameroon	143	66	Not Free
Ecuador	143	66	Not Free
Guinea	143	66	Not Free
Honduras	143	66	Not Free
Morocco	143	66	Not Free
Kyrgyzstan	148	67	Not Free
Singapore	148	67	Not Free
Jordan	150	68	Not Free
Malaysia	151	69	Not Free
Cambodia	152	70	Not Free
Qatar	152	70	Not Free
South Sudan	152	70	Not Free
Central African Republic	155	71	Not Free
Gabon	155	71	Not Free
Iraq	155	71	Not Free
Oman	155	71	Not Free
Angola	159	73	Not Free
Myanmar	159	73	Not Free
Chad	161	74	Not Free
Zimbabwe	161	74	Not Free
Brunei	163	76	Not Free
Turkey	163	76	Not Free
Djibouti	165	77	Not Free
Egypt	165	77	Not Free
Libya	165	77	Not Free
Thailand	165	77	Not Free
United Arab Emirates	169	78	Not Free
Rwanda	170	79	Not Free
Somalia	170	79	Not Free
Venezuela	172	81	Not Free
Congo (Kinshasa)	173	82	Not Free
Belarus	174	83	Not Free
Russia	174	83	Not Free
Swaziland	174	83	Not Free
Vietnam	177	84	Not Free
Palestine	177	84	Not Free
Burundi	179	85	Not Free
Kazakhstan	179	85	Not Free
Laos	179	85	Not Free
Yemen	179	85	Not Free
Ethiopia	183	86	Not Free
Saudi Arabia	183	86	Not Free
Sudan	183	86	Not Free
Bahrain	186	87	Not Free
China	186	87	Not Free
Tajikistan	186	87	Not Free
The Gambia	186	87	Not Free
Azerbaijan	190	90	Not Free
Iran	190	90	Not Free
Syria	190	90	Not Free
Cuba	193	91	Not Free
Equatorial Guinea	193	91	Not Free
Crimea	195	94	Not Free
Eritrea	195	94	Not Free
Uzbekistan	197	95	Not Free
North Korea	198	98	Not Free
Turkmenistan	198	98	Not Free