Shocking pageantry finalists facts

TOMORROW is D-Day for Zimbabwe’s rebranded prime beauty pageantry, as 35 finalists take to the ramp to win a ticket to become the country’s tourism ambassador, of course with beauty and brains.
All roads lead to the ceremonial home of such contests — the Harare International Conference Centre — as Zimbabweans in their broad totality throng the venue to see whose daughter is going to take the crown.
Last Saturday, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority took the 35 beauty queens to the country’s most celebrated tourist attraction, Victoria Falls.
Out of the 35 contestants, only four had ever set foot in Victoria Falls and only three of them had boarded a plane. If it was not for the ZTA trip, chances are that Zimbabwe was going to have a Miss Tourism Zimbabwe, A Miss Universe and Miss Zimbabwe who has never set foot on the country’s and world’s acclaimed tourist resort.
What does this say on the calibre of our contestants and the modelling agencies that groomed them? My foot!
Initially, when I heard about the trip to Victoria Falls, I rubbished it as a publicity stunt by ZTA chief executive Karikoga Kaseke, because to me there was no logic in paying US$244 for each contestant to fly to Victoria Falls, but I was proved wrong.
While on a sunset cruise with the models, I got to learn that 99 percent of them had never been on a boat cruise and let alone seen a hippopotamus! There was stampede when a hippo — a grey mound of flesh — revealed itself above the murky waters of the Zambezi River and smiled at the beauty queens.
Never mind that the sub-aqua monster is ugly, it could not stand the heat, raised its fierce face and yawned in approval of what our fathers and mothers sired. It was a seal of approval because indeed the hippo was awestruck by the paragons of beauty and the best products of nature that rode on the boat.
But back to the statistics, the lack of exposure to Victoria Falls raises questions as to why we do not promote domestic tourism and let our children travel to our resort places.
The models in camp are aged between 17 and 23 so to think that an aspiring tourism ambassador can grow up to 23 years without visiting the country’s prime tourist resort is to expose ourselves.
How can one groom his or her child to become the country’s tourism ambassador, when that child knows nothing about the country’s prime tourist destination? Fetid!
Anyway, that is a lesson and a big challenge to modelling agencies who must not let ZTA do the job for them. The agencies must groom these ladies.
In any case, I will not delve into the aptitude tests and the mediocrity that has gone with it. The agencies must do more and not just milk the parents of these children dry for nothing. Whatever the case, tomorrow a winner or winners will emerge and Zimbabwe should be proud of what we will have.  
All the best to that sister of mine who will make it but the truth is that a tall order awaits her, as she still needs to learn a lot about this country.
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