Sir, The article by Victor Kuss on Miss World in your issue of October 19th has reached me via the press cutting agency. I feel that Victor needs a little updating on our activities. Like the Eurovision Song Contest which Ireland has so proudly won a number of times, the Miss World Contest is available nowadays to promote tourism in whichever country it is staged in.
The contest did not out stay its welcome in the UK and US, as Victor implies. Having staged it for 41 years - 39 in London, one in the US and one in Hong Kong, to promote the opening of the convention centre there - we were invited to South Africa, and in three years made Sun City a world renowned entertainment centre. In 1994, the winner was Miss India and that country saw at first hand the promotional value of Miss World and signed up for this year. We know by experience that when they see the result, they will want to continue next year.
What a great thing for us when we did leave the UK. At that time, 36 countries with 200 million viewers took the Miss World Pageant. Last year, 115 countries with nearly two billion viewers took the show. Compare that with the Eurovision Song Contest, and you will realise the promotional power of the pageant today.
As for pressure groups, alas, we have lived with them for years. They do not go for other world contests, only Miss World. In some respects, we are victims of being the biggest and most watched world pageant. You may well remember the demonstrations in London by Women's Lib in the 1970s and the so called Angry Brigade. India has been staging beauty pageants for decades; Miss India won Miss World in 1966 and two years ago, two different girls in the same year won both Miss World and Miss Universe without a single protest.
Yes, Victor, why not Miss World in Ireland? It is more expensive than the Eurovision Song Contest, of course, with four times as many TV stations and ten times as many viewers, but undoubtedly, if it could be financed, Ireland would be a great venue. - Yours, etc.,
Miss World (Jersey) Ltd.,
21 Golden Square,
London W1R3PA.