BEAUTY PAGEANTS AND TOURISM

FILIPINA BEAUTIES SHINED IN 2017

Except for one, all of the 2017 Bb.Pilipinas winners did pretty well in international pageants last year. Take a look:

    Rachel Peters - Top 10 finish at Miss Universe 2017 (held in Las Vegas, USA)
    Katarina Rodriguez - 1st runner up at Miss Intercontinental 2017 (held in Egypt)
    Nelda Ibe - 1st runner up at Miss Globe 2017 (held in Albania)
    Elizabeth Clenci - 2nd runner up at Miss Grand International 2017 (held in Bangkok, Thailand)
    Channel Olive Thomas - Top 10 finish at Miss Supranational 2017 (held in Poland)

Karen Ibasco bagged the fourth Miss Earth crown for the Philippines, however her victory was met by protests from pageant fans around the world branding Ibasco's win a hometown decision.

Teresita Marquez won the 2017 Reyna Hispanoamericana, a pageant for countries with Spanish roots. Teresita bested out 27 countries and it was the first time the Philippines joined the pageant.

The Philippines bet for Miss World managed to reach top 40 (was top 5 in 2016).  Mariel de Leon did not place in Miss International. There are some more Filipinas who won in some minor pageants  (will update once known).

PASSION FOR PAGEANTS 

Obviously the Philippines is one of the craziest, if not the craziest pageant country in the world. Filipinos are obsessed with beauty pageants and there's always one held in any area or communities anywhere in the country at any time of the year. Some are held on makeshift stage in basketball courts, backstreet and parks. Even schools and universities organize their own pageants; name any pageant, you can find it the Philippines be it for male pageants or gays and lesbians and even pageants for kids. It's likened to Filipinos' passion for basketball which is considered almost like a religion in the country. Expect a big fuzz and bashing if Miss Philippines fail to make it in major international pageants just like when Rachel Peters didn't make it to the top 5 at the recent Miss Universe pageant. The last to compete among the 2017 Bb. Pilipinas winners was Katarina Sonja Rodriguez. Katarina placed 1st runner up at Miss Intercontinental and as expected overzealous fans are saying that Katarina was robbed of the title, accusing the organizers for discriminating against Filipinas and all that crazy stuff. The Philippines has yet to win this minor international pageant.

While beauty pageants have become less popular in industrialized countries, it still remains "a big thing" in most countries in Latin America and Asia specifically in countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Thailand, India and the Philippines and not to be outdone, there's also growing interest in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Rich countries like Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Japan, Korea and Singapore just kinda chill out and do not really care that much even if they lose. 

PHILIPPINES TO HOLD 67TH ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE?

There's brewing rumor that the 67th Miss Universe Pageant will be held in the country and in the event it push through it will be the fourth time the country host the pageant.  Reports had it that it's the Miss Universe Org. who is offering the country to hold the pageant and apparently the Department of Tourism (DOT) is on the final stage of closing the deal.  In an interview by TV Patrol with Miss Universe CEO Paula Shugart,  DOT claims that tourist arrivals posted a 5% increase after Miss Universe was held in the country two years ago. I don't think holding Miss Universe will boost the country's tourism industry and if ever, I guess it's just very minimal. Statistics shows the Philippines lags way behind compared to our neighbors like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Thailand had 29 million visitors last year compared to the Philippines' only 5 million visitors. 

The Department of Tourism should thank foreign backpackers and vloggers who posts their vacation adventure on their vlogs on YouTube.  This has somehow attracted foreign tourists to visit the country. These vloggers often say that the Philippines in fact has more to offer but efforts from the government aren't felt enough. Tourists often complain about bad infrastructure and poor internet connection. Another factor is the bad image of the country but thanks to some foreign vloggers who tell their viewers that it is generally safe to visit the country except for a few places in Mindanao, but the sad part of it is that it's the backpackers themselves who discover some of the potential tourist spots in the country and they even encourage their viewers to visit the Philippines.  DOT should help these guys instead of spending millions on advertising agencies only to realize that they were only copied materials from other countries. On a positive note, foreign tourists are amazed with the genuine hospitality of the Filipino people whom they refer to as the friendliest people on the planet and this somehow compensates whatever shortcomings the country has in other aspects.