The city of Johannesburg is ready and raring to host the Miss World Pageant, the world’s most widely-watched annual TV show.
Speaking this week at a press conference, Lindiwe Mahlangu, CEO of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, confirmed the Miss World Pageant will take place in Johannesburg on 13 December at Sandton Convention Centre.

(Pictured: Lindiwe Mahlangu, Chief Executive Johannesburg Tourism Company; Zi Lin Zhang, reigning Miss World from China; Julia Morley, Chief Executive & Chairperson of Miss World Organisation)
The pageant, with representation from 115 participating countries, provides Johannesburg with a superb showcase to profile its world-class credentials internationally in the 2010 lead up.
“Broadcast to over two billion television viewers in over 200 countries, it effectively reinforces our capability to handle other mega-events such as the World Cup and increase the allure of the city to potential visitors,” says Mahlangu.

Johannesburg took on the role of hosting Miss World only last month. It was necessary to move the final from Ukraine due to reasons beyond Miss World’s control. However Julia Morley believed the dynamic team, headed by Lindiwe Mahlangu, could rise to the considerable challenge of staging the event at such short notice.
This is not the first time South Africa has played host to the prestigious pageant, with the event taking place at Sun City from 1992 to 1996 and again in 2001. According to Mahlangu, the increase in tourism to South Africa during those years was unprecedented.
“This is an incredible boost for Johannesburg, further entrenching our position as the economic hub of Africa. We believe that our positioning as a world-class city will be significantly elevated, which will in turn help us attract and retain more events of this calibre,” she says.

The month preceding the final event, will be filled with a number of high-profile and glamorous events, including the Miss World Charity Auction, the Miss World Welcome Dinner, the World Designer Award and the Miss World Children’s Party. Some of the “pageants within the pageant” include: Miss World Beach Beauty, Miss World Talent Show, World Designer Award, Miss World Charity Auction, Miss Photogenic, Miss World Top Model, Miss World Sports Women and Miss World ‘World Library’.

Ms Julia Morley, Chief Executive & Chairperson of Miss World Organisation confirmed that the detailed schedule of activities which will be taking place between 17 November and 13 December was currently being finalised and would be announced on 1 October.

“We look forward to working with the city of Johannesburg to promote their World Class City during our one month Miss World Festival. Our goal is to bring more visitors to your vibrant city so that they too can enjoy the sights and sounds of Joburg and the hospitality if its people,” concludes Morley.
The Miss World pageant is the oldest and one of the most publicised international beauty pageants in the world. Created in the United Kingdom in 1951, the pageant is owned and managed by Miss World Limited and franchised in more than 130 countries. Under the banner of its ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ programme it has, in the past 25 years raised more than US $ 400 million for children’s charities around the globe.

For further details visit www.joburgtourism.com and www.missworld.com
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