World Beauties Put Spotlight On Thailand

The Miss Universe 2005 pageant, held on 31 May in Bangkok, was a critical component of Thailand's two main tourism strategies for 2005; boosting the number of female travellers, and showing the world that everything was back to normal after the tsunami.

More than 600 million people in 180 countries are estimated to have watched the live coverage of the pageant, the organisers claim.

Thailand spent 265 million baht (about US$6.5 million) to win the rights to host the event, primarily because of the worldwide media coverage that came with it. Competing bids had come from China and Chile.

Contestants from 80 countries competed for the Miss Universe title, eventually won by Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova, 23, a model and motivational speaker to grade school and high school students in Toronto.

The 54th annual broadcast was covered live by NBC and Telemundo in the United States. The website www.missuniverse.com also attracted thousands of visitors and featured prominent mention of Bangkok as the host city.

The pageant was in line with Thailand's desire to attract more female travel to Thailand. The TAT also used the event to publicise the post-tsunami return-to-normalcy campaign to a global audience.

Additional publicity will be generated during the year-long list of activities lined up for Miss Universe, including meetings with heads of state, dignitaries, participation in official charity and social events, appearing on television and speaking on a variety of topics.

Thai Prime Minister Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra was quoted as saying that the pageant was "just what Thailand needed to bring back tourists after the tsunami disaster last year".

He congratulated the Miss Universe Organization for "a good presentation of Thailand", especially the images of the tourist attractions of upcountry provinces which were included in the live broadcast. "It's worth it," Prime Minister Thaksin said.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand ensured that Thai themes, attractions and activities were prominently featured in the broadcast, especially the beaches of Phuket and the Andaman sea resorts which have more than recovered from the tsunami crisis.

The spectacular show featured everything from Thai classical dance to a tuk-tuk and an elephant. Miss Canada ended her appearance with a 'khop khun kha' (Thai for 'thank you') and extended the traditional Thai folded-hands greeting, the wai, earning resounding applause.

TAT Governor, Mrs. Juthamas Siriwan, said it was important to convey a very strong impression that south Thailand has recovered from the tsunami disaster.

She noted that the event also generated massive publicity throughout Asia, especially in major countries like India and China which are becoming significant sources of visitor arrivals to Thailand.

"We are hoping that the event will more than pay for itself in terms of generating a positive image for Thailand as well in increased visitor arrivals," Mrs. Juthamas said.

We are delighted and honoured to have welcomed the Miss Universe contestants to Dusit Laguna Phuket as part of their 2005 pageant programme. Their visit was timely and gave a much needed boost to local moral and international confidence in the destination.

Welcoming the Miss Universe beauties to the resort allowed us to present Phuket as an island of normalcy, showcasing the destination fully back in business. The positive images of Phuket helped tourism tremendously. The colourful images of the island, combined with the world's most beautiful women, broadcast globally was the best promotion we could have hoped for.

The positive effects of having the contestants visit Phuket, and the valuable media coverage surrounding their visit, has helped rebuild the island's tourism business much faster than anticipated. However, we still have a fair way to go.

At Dusit Laguna Phuket we are expecting a reasonably good start to 2006 and by the time we reach next year’s high season, starting November, occupancy and rates should be back to good levels.

Jan Verduyn
General Manager
Dusit Laguna Resort Phuket

We were thrilled to have been awarded the contract to provide ground transportation for the Miss Universe 2005 contestants, crew and talent, during the month-long run-up to the pageant.

Being appointed as the Official Ground Agent for this prestigious event was a big win for Diethelm Events. Not only was the event lucrative, it was also a great testimonial to our high quality transportation and sightseeing services, that we provide for high profile international events.

Kris Srisatin
Business Development Director
Diethelm Events