Miss Universe organizers eyeing PHL as pageant host anew

By Roger Pe - December 4, 2017

After the Philippines hosted the 2016 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, organizers told the Department of Tourism (DOT) a flattering message: It wanted the country to host again the following year, an invitation normally not accorded to the incumbent host.

“As a matter of fact, they told it to us bluntly,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said in a news conference held at the penthouse of the DOT Building in Makati City on Monday. The President begged off because the country was focusing on another major event—the Asean Summit’s 50th Anniversary, which the Philippines also mounted successfully in November.

Today, the hosting rumors are once again flying. The chichi crowd is going gaga with the coming of newly crowned Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters this week. Peters was the vivacious South African damsel who beat 89 other girls worldwide for the crown held in Las Vegas.

Not only that, she will be accompanied by her predecessor, Iris Mittenaere, the French Miss Universe of 2016, and 14 other Miss Universe beauties who participated in the pageant last month.

What gives? Is this a prelude to the Philippines hosting the pageant again next year? “The pageant directors told us we did a great job in hosting the pageant in 2016. They said it was the most beautifully, efficiently organized competition in recent years. So they are extending the invitation to us again. But it is really up to the President to decide,” Teo said.

Among the 14 beauties coming over are Miss Great Britain, Miss Russia, Miss Italy, Miss Canada, Miss Germany, Miss China, Miss India, Miss Malaysia, Miss Singapore, Miss Thailand and other candidates from emerging and key countries the DOT wants to tap, especially for its global event promotion—the “Bring home a friend to the Philippines” campaign.

The “queens” will be divided into three groups, with some of them flown to Batanes, Camiguin and other equally spectacular destinations in the Philippines. They will participate in gala fashion shows, dinner and hold photo sessions to promote the country as Philippine ambassadors to their respective countries.

Did the hosting of the Philippines in 2016 convert into bottom-lines and other measurable aftereffects? Teo said the media mileage that it created made all the candidates and people from all over the world know the Philippines better.

“There was a notable increase in tourist traffic. We now have a steady, loyal influx of foreign visitors coming from different regions of the world, in spite of what happened to Marawi,” she noted.

As of the latest arrival figures from January to August this year, the Philippines already generated earnings well beyond the figures it earned for the same period last year.

July recorded the biggest receipts of P33.53 billion, while August registered the highest growth at 106.94 percent. South Korea is still the top-spending country, followed by China, the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. Teo and Undersecretary Catherine Chloe S. de Castro also stressed that more of the Philippine National Police’s finest men and women will be stationed in popular tourist sites to assure everyone that the country will remain a safe haven for international and local tourists. “While the continuous influx of foreign guests attests to our image as a safe tourist destination, we must enhance security and enforce preventive measures through police presence and visibility,” de Castro said.

In the first question-and-answer section of the pageant, Nel-Peters, who holds a degree in business management, was asked what the biggest issue facing women around the world is. “Women earn 75 percent of what men earn doing the same thing. I believe in equal pay for equal work.” She was later asked, “What quality in yourself are you most proud of, and how will you apply that quality to your time as Miss Universe?” She answered: “As Miss Universe, you have to be confident as to who you are. [The] Miss Universe has to overcome her fears and teach others to do the same; and nothing is ever too much to ask for. That is exactly who I am.”

She is the second South African to win the title after Margaret Gardiner won in 1978. Born and raised in South Africa, the 22-year-old Demi-Leigh calls Sedgefield, Western Cape, her hometown. She very recently earned her degree in business management at North West University. Her biggest motivation comes from her disabled half sister Franje, who was born without a cerebellum and lives in Potchefstroom with her stepmother and father.

“I learned to take responsibility for my future at a young age. With hard work, focus and a lot of dedication, I realized, I can become whoever and whatever I want to become. I proved that to myself when I became Miss South Africa 2017 on my first time entering the competition. I have a competitive spirit and always strive to be the best version of myself. My dreams never stop growing, and I never stop chasing them. I don’t believe in waiting for an opportunity to rise but rather in creating one.”

The US leads the tally of countries with the most number of Miss Universe titles since the pageant’s creation in 1952. The country where the pageant originated first held the crown in 1954, and lately in 2012 with Olivia Culpo. It has also won a title in every decade since the 1950s, except during the 1970s and 2000s. The US is followed by Venezuela with seven titles, Puerto Rico with five and the Philippines and Sweden with three.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/miss-universe-organizers-eyeing-phl-as-pageant-host-anew/