There was pomp and glamour on Saturday night as 23-year-old Sheila Akinyi clinched the Homa Bay County Miss Tourism 2023.
Akinyi, who graduated from Kenyatta University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health records and Information Management trounced the other 15 contestants who participated in the beauty pageant.
She now becomes the third queen to hold the position which earned her Ksh150,000 cash price.
The first runner-up in the pageant was 21-year-old Whitney Adhiambo Juma who is a student pursuing a diploma in civil engineering student at Mawego Technical Training Institute. For the position, Whitney was awarded Ksh100,000.
At the same pageant, Mary Laura Ogada, 23, a student at Zetech University, was announced second runner-up, a position that earned her a Ksh50,000 reward.
The event was graced by Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, business lady and musician Esther Akothee, a number of County Executive Committee (CEC) members, Assembly Speaker Julius Gaya, and MCAs among others.
Speaking after being crowned the third Miss Tourism Homa Bay chapter, Akinyi promised to ensure that she markets the county's tourist sites and put the county on the global map.
"Homa Bay is one of the counties which have beautiful tourist attractions but we have failed to venture into better ways to market them, this will be my first task to ensure that these sites are noticed by the whole world through marketing with the support of the county government," she said.
"We have Ruma National Park which is the home of the roan antelopes in the country, Simbi Nyaima, Bala hot springs, and numerous beaches among other tourist sites which I will ensure are properly marketed so as to attract as many tourists as possible," she added.
On her part, Governor Wanga said a lot of expectations are expected from the winner and that people are looking up to her to properly market the county and bridge the gaps we have experienced in the tourism industry in the county and ensure it appears in the global map.
"As we promised when we got into office, Homa Bay will no longer be looked for from the bottom going up but from up going bottom, we must all put our hands together until this is realized. This also includes the tourism sector," she said.
"I am happy that the girls were mentored and trained on areas of tourism and climate change during their three-day boot camp, this great," the governor added.
Akothe on the other hand promised to fly the contestants to Switzerland early next year as an opportunity to show them how marketing should be done.
According to the Ministry of Trade CEM Polycarp Okombo, the auditions were carried out from the Sub County level where two winners were picked from each Sub Counties to compete in the grand finale.
