Johannesburg to host Miss World 2008
 The official announcement of Johannesburg as the host city for the 58th Miss World contest took place on September 9th.
Some 115 of the worlds most beautiful women are set to strut their stuff at the Sandton Convention Centre this December as they compete to be crowned Miss World.
ONE hundred and fifteen of the worlds most beautiful women will descend on South African shores in November, to prepare for the Miss World 2008 pageant taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre in December.
The event was initially scheduled to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but was moved to South Africa over fears of political instability in Ukraines neighbouring South Ossetia and Russia.
This will not be the first time that South Africa has hosted the event. In 1992, 1995 and in 2001, South Africa hosted the event at the Sun City entertainment and casino resort in the northwest province.
This announcement was made by the chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Companys (JTC) Lindiwe Mahlangu at a press conference held on 9 September. Mahlangu voiced her excitement to have the event brought to Johannesburg, saying it will now give us a chance to tell the Jozi story.
Mahlangu added that it was part of the JTCs mandate to attract major world events to the city in order to increase tourism and trade, but also to draw awareness of the international community to Johannesburgs ability to host events of varying magnitudes.
Broadcast to over 2-billion television viewers in over 200 countries, it effectively reinforces our capability to handle other mega-events such as the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ and so increase the allure of the city to potential visitors, said Mahlangu.
The JTC went neck-on- neck with countries including China, who hosted the event last year and England for the opportunity to have the 2008 chapter of the Miss World pageant, but it was South Africas bid that impressed Julia Morley, the co-founder of Miss World along with her late Husband Eric Morley. She is also the current chairperson of Miss World Limited.
The contestants will arrive a month before the event takes place on 13 December to take part in the Miss World Festival, which will see the contestants visiting different parts of the country.
Photo: Lindiwe Mahlangu, chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Company addresses the media (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
A number of high profile events including the Miss World Charity Auction, The Miss World Charity Dinner and the Miss World Childrens party will also take place during that month.
Speaking about the event, Julia Morley, could hardly contain her excitement at bringing the event back to Africa. South Africa has great meaning to me. We have worked with a South African television crew that films all our Miss World pageants and they continue to do a fantastic job.
Morley spoke of the pageants desire to showcase the country to the world. In doing so, Morley announced that Miss World Limited would be making use of top South African designers to dress the contestants.
Having been on an excursion of Johannesburg, Morley was also introduced to African Romance a locally based majority black-owned jewellery company. The company makes a unique luxurious African jewellery, which, Morley is hoping, will attract foreign interest as they will be using their jewellery to adorn the contestants.
In 2006, African Romance spent about R40-million to set up its five-star facility in Sandton, Johannesburg. They bought over 4 000 rough diamonds, with about 30 of the stones being polished a day.
For Morley, it is the culture and endless possibilities of Joburg that set the city apart. From the tourism experience to the economic and trade opportunities that business could also garner in the city. She said what distinguished the JTCs bid from the rest was the passion with which they presented their bid.
The Miss World event will be taking place fresh off the heels of the international soccer exhibition Soccerex 2008, taking place from the 23 - 26 November also in Johannesburg.
Hosted by the Gauteng Province, Soccerex is the leading hub for the global football industry. Held over a four-day period, it provides unique networking platforms for delegates. Mahlangu said this would also come in handy, as the JTC will also be able to capitalise on using some of the set up networks, specifically the security that would have been organised for the event.
Also in attendance at the press conference was the reigning Miss World 2008, Zi Lin Zhang who is also the reigning Miss China. She too added to the chorus of praise for Johannesburg as the host city for the event, Im happy and excited to be in Africa. I have been here a short while, but I already have beautiful memories of this country, She said.
Over the past year, Zi Lin Zhang has had the opportunity to attend several charity functions in over 15 countries, including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
But she says of all events that shes taken part in, coming to South Africa has been the best, as she dreamt about the country, even without knowing that one day she would have the opportunity to visit it.
Preparations are well under-way to turn the Sandton convention centre into a swirl of glitz and glamour for the international community coming to attend the two-hour long event.
In the words of Julia Morley, The show we are going to have here will be the best.
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