The miss tourism grand contest event was graced by Maria Mutagamba who is the minister for Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities together with the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s Executive Director Dr Andrew Seguya alongside many other major players in the tourism sector, notably tour operators and hotel owners. There are about 15 finalists that were selected from those that turned up for auditions which was held at the end of last month.

The grand finale will be on October 26 and whoever wins, will become the country’s tourism ambassador, join efforts to help promote the country’s tourism sector and she will also represent Uganda at Miss Tourism International which will be held in Malaysia in December. Meanwhile, Philippines’ Rizzini Alexis Gomez is the current Miss Tourism International.

Before the grand day, all the competitors will take a tour around the country to check out most of the country’s tourist destinations to film a documentary. While speaking at the event, the ministry’s permanent secretary Ambassador Patrick Mugoya, all the plans to make the beauty contest an annual event to coincide with the World Tourism day, celebrated on September 27 in which case this year’s function will be held in Fort Portal.

All the girls were gracefully dressed by Brenda Maraka and Stella Atal and the competition has attracted a number of other girls that contested for Miss Uganda in 2013 alongside some new faces making the competition for the crown tougher. However, there were some two girls with tattoos who might not make it to the finale as the judges may not let the tattooed girls represent the country