World’s beauty queens to frolic on Durban’s beaches
25. Nov, 2008
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Durban – A bevy of beauty queens will jet into Durban tomorrow (Wednesday) when the 112 contestants competing in the Miss World 2008 pageant arrive in the city for a four-day beach and swimwear stint, ahead of the gala event in Johannesburg on December 13.
The contestants will stay at the Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel on Durban’s Golden Mile and will take advantage of the city’s sultry summer weather with special beach photo shoots. The official swimwear shoot will take place at the luxurious Beverly Hills hotel in Umhlanga.
Former Durban Africa boss Lindiwe Mahlangu, now chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, said that Mpumalanga and Limpopo would also host the Miss World contestants as part of the month-long extravaganza in South Africa.
The move comes after Johannesburg had secured hosting rights to the Miss World 2008 Pageant, over the likes of London, Seoul and Hong Kong – following the event being taken away from Kiev earlier this year as a result of political instability in Russia. The gala pageant will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre and will be broadcast live to more than two billion people in 220 countries around the world.
“We are happy to be hosts to the biggest Miss World Pageant ever, with a record 112 contestants. We have planned a host of activities for the contestants, who a currently at Legends Golf Resort in Mpumalanga. At the weekend they took part in the FIFA Confederations Cup Draw in Johannesburg,” she said yesterday.
“We aim to use this event to help showcase the best South Africa has to offer including the variety, beauty and cultural diversity of our country. We also want to dispel misconception about the country and our preparation for hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” Mahlangu added.
“It was an obvious choice for us to bring the contestants to KwaZulu-Natal because it is the best beach location in South Africa. We wanted to take advantage of this by opting to have the official Miss World swimwear photoshoot here,” she said.
Perry Moodley, Acting Chief Executive of Durban Tourism agreed, saying the staging of the swimwear shoot in the city was natural as Durban was South Africa’s beach holiday hotspot. “We are really excited to be part of the Miss World tour and have expressed interest in the past in hosting the event in Durban. We still have this goal in our future sights,” he said.
Mike Jackson, General Manager of Southern Sun Elangeni and head of the Durban Chamber’s Tourism Committee, said anticipation was high as 112 beauties of the world would be staying at his beachfront hotel.
“We can’t wait. Miss World is a prestigious event and it will do a lot to showcase Durban and KwaZulu-Natal. With the most beautiful woman in the world at the hotel, we have even decided to have only woman staff on duty and do away with the ogling men,” he joked.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
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