The queen and a runner-up of the Miss Tourism International 2014/2015 have arrived in a northern Vietnamese province to join a survey of the site meant to host this year’s edition.

Faddya Isabel Halabi Troisi from Venezuela, who was crowned Miss Tourism International 2014/2015 during its finale held in Kuala Lumpur on December 31 last year, visited Quang Ninh Province on Wednesday, Thanh Nien (Young People) cited Elite Vietnam, a local model training company, as announcing.

The province is home to the UNESCO-recognized Ha Long Bay.

Accompanying her were Datuk Danny Ooi, the pageant’s president and franchise owner, and Thailand’s Warangkanang Wutthayakorn, one of the 2014-2015 edition’s runners-up, according to Vietnamese newswire VnExpress.

On Thursday, the team is set to meet with Quang Ninh Province’s leaders and join a reconnaissance of Tuan Chau Island, located around two kilometers from the downtown area of Ha Long City, the province’s heart.

The two beauties will visit Ha Long Bay on Friday, VnExpress said.

The provincial People’s Committee has approved the hosting of the event later this year, the National Administration of Tourism said earlier.

Thuy Nga, director of Elite Vietnam, told Thanh Nien that her company was only able to acquire permission to bring the Miss Tourism International pageant to Vietnam after a three-year negotiating process.

The specific venue and date will be decided on the reconnaissance trip.

Globally recognized as a premier international pageant, the Miss Tourism International debuted in Sarawak, Malaysia in 1994, according to the pageant’s website.

The annual contest also serves as a platform to educate and promote tourism and cultural exchange among the participating beauty queens, and captures the essence of the host country and its way of life through the eyes of these beauties, the website added.

The pageant is patronized by Malaysia’s Tourism Ministry, and all of its editions have taken place in Malaysia, except for 2006, when its finale was held in Guangzhou, China, according to Wikipedia.

During the New Year’s Eve finale of the 2014-2015 edition, Vietnamese beauty Dieu Linh claimed the Miss South East Asia and Best in National Costume titles.                                                                                                                                                                                                     However, Linh partook in the contest without seeking prior consent from Vietnamese cultural authorities and was thus fined for the offence.

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