A total of 106 candidates will arrive in Puerto Rico this Sunday to represent each of their countries in the 70th edition of the Miss World beauty pageant, which will celebrate its final event on December 16 at the San Juan Coliseum, according to a statement. released this Friday.
For 26 days, the contestants will participate in a series of activities in which they will learn about important places in Puerto Rico and its history, in an event that for the first time will take place in a Spanish-speaking territory.
It is estimated that the oldest international beauty kingdom in the world, created in 1951, will generate revenues of about 150 million dollars for Puerto Rico in tourism advertising.
The candidates will be transferred upon arrival at the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico hotel, in the Río Grande, a municipality on the east coast of the island.
The actor and producer Fernando Allende, who has collaborated for the last six years with the entity, stressed that the production of this contest is one of the most important television broadcasts worldwide, with an audience of 500 million viewers and that it will reach 170 territories around the world.
“Miss World turns 70 and comes to celebrate them in Puerto Rico. For the country this is an invaluable exhibition of positive and beautiful images of its culture,” said Allende, whose paternal grandfather was born on the island.
Allende added that the Puerto Rican Government joins the private initiative so that this event takes place, achieving an invaluable exhibition around the planet.
Lady Wilnelia Forsyth, who became the first Puerto Rican to obtain the Miss World crown in 1975, is already on the island to participate in various activities of the organization.
Regarding the issue of covid-19, the organization works to comply with the protocols established by the Government.
The local authorities anticipated that all the candidates, as well as the personnel working in the event, will have to demonstrate their proof of vaccination to participate in the various activities.
During the past 69 years, only 15 Latinas have managed to win this beauty pageant. Among the winning countries is Venezuela, with six wins, Puerto Rico (2), Peru (2), Argentina (2), Dominican Republic (1), Brazil (1), and Mexico (1).
The current Miss World is Toni-Ann Singh, from Jamaica, who was crowned in 2019 since the contest was postponed in 2020 as a result of the health crisis generated by the covid-19 pandemic.