The official message came to Riga from the headquarters of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It says that our Baltic International Academy is accredited by the World Tourism Organisation for three years (2023-2026) and the BIA has been awarded the corresponding UNWTO – TedQual certificate.
A special presentation and press conference, which took place at the European Centre of the BIA, were dedicated to this event. They were attended by the heads of a number of Latvian tourism organisations, journalists, representatives of the administration and lecturers of our academy. When opening the presentation, BIA Vice-Rector for Science Vladislav Volkov and the head of the study direction of tourism programmes Zhanna Tsaurkubule welcomed the participants of the presentation and noted that this accreditation is important not only for the Baltic International Academy but also for the entire tourism sector in Latvia.
The presentation at our academy has special significance because it took place during the 25th WTO General Assembly, the Chairman of the BIA Senate Stanislav Buka noted in his speech. He emphasised that the UNWTO certificate is convincing evidence that the quality of education at the Baltic International Academy in the field of tourism meets international standards, and the specialists prepared within its walls for travel companies, hotels and restaurants are competitive in the international labour market.
As noted by the BIA lecturer Alyona Rogale-Homika, who coordinated the implementation of WTO requirements to obtain this important certificate, a lot of preparatory work was carried out. It received high evaluation from the commission that analyses the initial materials for accreditation. According to the assessment by WTO experts, the Baltic International Academy received 93 points out of 100 possible.
A significant contribution to the success of accreditation was made by the advice of the professor, special auditor of the WTO Don Miguel Rivas, who visited the academy, where he got acquainted with the experience of teaching in the field of tourism and gave it a high assessment. During the presentation, he congratulated our academy remotely from Madrid on its well-deserved success and noted that new initiatives of the BIA in the field of tourism will always find support from the World Tourism Organisation.
In the photos: Vice-Rector for Science Vladislav Volkov and the head of tourism programmes Zhanna Tsaurkubule are opening the presentation. Chairman of the BIA Senate Stanislav Buka demonstrates the UNWTO certificate. Professor Don Miguel Rivas at the meeting with lecturers and students of the BIA.
Photos by Vladimir Starkov and Kristina Lyakhova.
