Angeli Dione Gomez capped a banner year for Filipina beauty queens after she won the Miss Tourism International Crown in a pageant held on New Year's Eve in Putrajaya, Malaysia.
The 20-year-old Cebu native triumphed in the last beauty pageant of the calendar year, beating Thailand’s Sunidporn Srisuwan and Malaysia’s Sarah Czarnuch, who placed second and third, respectively.
“The first thing I plan to do is to meet my family, whom I have not met for about one month, and have a nice breakfast with them tomorrow,” Gomez said.
She is the second Filipina to win the Miss Tourism International crown, after Rizzini Alexis Gomez also won the pageant last year.
Gomez will be "a traveling ambassador in promoting informal international relations between countries to spread the message of peace, goodwill, and friendship," according to pageant organizers.
Gomez’s victory is the latest in a string of victories for the Philippines in international beauty pageants.
Among the Filipina pageant victors this year are Megan Young (Miss World), Mutya Johanna Datul (Miss Supranational), and Bea Rose Santiago (Miss International).
The Miss Tourism International 2013 pageant and coronation night was held at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, in Sepang Utara, Malaysia. A total of 60 candidates from all over the world competed for the crown.
Official results:
Miss Tourism International 2013 - Angeli Dione Gomez, Philippines
1st Runner-up - Sunidporn Srisuwan, Thailand (Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International
2013)
2nd Runner up - Sarah Czarnuch, Australia (Miss Tourism Metropolitan 2013)
3rd Runner up - Michelle Alexis Torres, Dominican Republic (Miss Tourism Global 2013)
4th Runner up - Thaarah Ganesan, Malaysia (Miss Tourism Cosmopolitan)
Top 10:
Australia - Sarah Czarnuch
Vietnam - Phan Hoang Thu
Bosnia & Herzegovina - Aleksandra Kovacevic
Ukraine - Oleksandra Timonina
Thailand - Sunidporn Srisuwan
Portugal - Sara Monica Matias da Silveira
Zimbabwe - Dananai Ratiozo Chipunza
Philippines - Angeli Dione Gomez
Malaysia - Thaarah Ganesan
Dominican Republic - Michelle Alexis
Miss Tourism International 2013 Special Awards:
Miss Proton Elegance - Portugal
Miss Beautiful Skin - Singapore
Miss Friendship - Uganda
Best in Talent - Armenia
Miss Tourism International 2013
Great Ambassador Award - Hong Kong
Miss Southeast Asia - Vietnam
Best National Costume - Mexico
Miss Beverly Wilshire Gorgeous - Miss Indonesia
Miss Portrait Queen - Romania
Miss Focus Point Dazzling - Poland
Miss Charity Queen - Korea
Miss KL Sogo Trendsetter - Australia
Miss Avant Garde i-City - Malaysia
Miss Poh Kong Glamour - Australia
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
