Sri Lanka to host ‘Miss Tourism World’ in Dec.

Miss Tourism World - Spain 2022 pageant winner Maria Del Carmen Benedicto, Miss Tourism World 2022 National Director Malith Ranasinghe, Tourism State Minister Diana Gamage, State Tourism Ministry Coordinating Secretary and Chief Advisor Dr. Arosha Fernando, Miss Tourism World International Finale 2022 Global Director David Singh, Ceylon Extreme Adventures CEO Nath Dharmasena

By Zahida Rizvi

The much-anticipated “Miss Tourism World 2022” worldwide pageant’s grand finale consisting of 80 champions representing 80 nations will compete for the ‘Miss Tourism’ title in the 14-day tour from 8-21 December, in Colombo.

Tourism State Minister Diana Gamage told a media briefing  yesterday that “Miss Tourism World 2022” is one of the biggest promotions in Sri Lanka, such that this pageant promotes Sri Lanka amongst the other 80 countries in the span of the allotted two weeks.

“Miss Tourism World will generate a lot of revenue for Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, it can open up a doorway for the countries to come to Sri Lanka even after the pageant,” Gamage added.

Miss Tourism World 2022 National Director Malith Ranasinghe and State Tourism Ministry Coordinating Secretary and Chief Advisor Dr. Arosha Fernando, pointed out that in order to win the bid to host “Miss Tourism World 2022” in Sri Lanka, at a time when tourism is struggling to survive, they competed with 15 countries.

The pair claimed that Sri Lanka beat out Croatia and Russia in the last round of bidding. 

“A lot of hard work went into achieving this success and the Government as well as industry stakeholders fully backed us. This is one of the top five Pageants which have been conducted globally for the past 74 years. Sri Lanka is also proud to host and celebrate the 75th Anniversary.”

“This event undoubtedly will be one of the best platforms to promote the tourism sector in Sri Lanka at this crucial hour. Contestants from 80 Countries will spend two weeks in Sri Lanka from 8-21 December, attending 80 mini Pageants and at last the grand finale. During this process, they will visit all the important places of tourism in Sri Lanka including Kandy, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Habarana, Ella, Arugam Bay, Mirissa, Galle, giving the much needed destination value to these areas.

Miss Tourism World International Finale 2022 Global Director David Singh and Miss Tourism World - Spain 2022 pageant winner Maria Del Carmen Benedicto, who arrived in Sri Lanka this week in preparation for the official press conference scheduled for today, were welcomed by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara