Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew takes a closer look at the Miss Tourism International crown.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will play host to the 26th Miss Tourism International (MTI) Pageant 2023 World Finals in November.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said a total of 45 countries will be participating in the event, adding that it is set to further boost Sabah's tourism credentials internationally.
"Sabah will definitely be in the limelight when the 45 countries set foot in our beautiful state, The Land below the Wind," Liew said.
She said this at the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the appointment of EventLab Works & Supplies Sdn Bhd as the host organiser of Miss Tourism International 2023 World Finals.
Liew then added that the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) and her ministry will give their full support as host to welcome the Miss Tourism International delegates.
"We will make sure to extend Sabah's warm and kind hospitality. We want to make it a memorable experience for them to enjoy all that Sabah has to offer.
"I am very proud that Sabah has been chosen to host this event," Liew said.
The 17-day Miss Tourism International Tourism event will begin with the arrival of delegates from Nov 10 with the final and crowning of the Miss Tourism International being held on Nov 25 at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC).
Liew said the event will bring publicity to the state and put Sabah in the Pageantry World News.
The minister thanked Miss Tourism International owner and president Tan Sri Danny Ooi for selecting Sabah to be the venue for the prestigious World Finals and also congratulated the joint organising chairpersons, Xandria Ban and Genie Chua, and her team for accepting such a great responsibility to organise an event of such magnitude.
Present during the event were reigning Miss Tourism International 2022 queen Miss Suphatra Kliangprom from Thailand and Miss Tourism Global 2022 Chrystal Huang from Singapore, as well as local beauty queens, Phoebe Ong (Miss South East Asia Tourism Ambassadress 2022) and Ellen Rachel (Miss Malaysia Tourism Metropolitan 2022).
Ooi said Sabah was selected to host the MTI World Finals because it has a lot to offer to the delegates.
He also said that among the activities that the delegates will be doing is the International Friendship Garden where they will each plant a tree.
"The purpose of the event is to promote tourism, culture and friendship. There will be a lot of activities focusing on local culture, the traditional way, and a lot of exposure would be given to Sabah," he said.
Ooi said that the delegates will be able to come and see for themselves what Sabah is all about and "word of mouth is the best form of advertising" for the state.
