VISITING beauty queens from Bahrain, Pakistan and Egypt have been kept quite busy as soon as they arrived in the country to train for the Miss Universe 2023 pageant, to be held in El Salvador on Nov. 18 (Nov. 19 in Manila).
In between training for the global pageant, the social calendar of Miss Universe 2023 candidates Lujane Yacoub of Bahrain, Erica Robin of Pakistan, and Mohra Tantawy of Egypt were also full with various activities that take them to some places in the country.
They were brought to Manila by Josh Yugen, who is the national director of the Miss Universe Bahrain, Miss Universe Egypt, and Miss Universe Pakistan organizations. A full Filipino team is preparing them for the Miss Universe competition.
Among the activities they attended were the ABS-CBN ball earlier this month where they were among the special guests, and more recently, they joined the Department of Tourism (DOT) as they promote halal and wellness travel in the country, following the country’s coup as the Emerging Muslim-Friendly Destination Award earlier this year.
In support of the government’s campaign, the three beauty queens were tapped as endorsers of the DOT, which partnered with an eco-luxury wellness resort to attract wellness enthusiasts and boost halal tourism from other countries.
“The Miss Universe’s trip to the Philippines would be a big boost for our country that would hopefully influence the global Muslim community to visit the archipelago nation…,” said Tourism Undersecretary Myra Paz Valderrosa-Abubakar.
For his part, Yugen said, “We are extremely grateful to the Philippine Department of Tourism and The Farm at San Benito for this wonderful opportunity to promote my country to the Arab, Middle East and Muslim countries. As someone who has lived in Dubai for more than half of my life, I sincerely believe that it is high time to elevate our Filipino welcome to the Middle East, and focus on the key factors attracting travelers to visit, such as providing options for halal certified establishments and world-class wellness programs.”
Miss Universe Bahrain, Pakistan and Egypt will be staying in the Philippines for a few more weeks to wrap up training for the competition. They will be competing against 90 other candidates, among them Michelle Dee from the Philippines. (© Philippine Daily Inquirer)
