Philippines' Cyrille Payumo wins Miss Tourism International 2019

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9  -- Cyrille Payumo of the Philippines was crowned Miss Tourism International 2019/2020, beating 39 other contestants at the pageant finals held here last night.

Charming her way into the judges’ hearts, the stunning and talented 22-year-old will now be realising her dreams of pursuing her studies in Mass Communications, as the pageant crown comes with a prize of a scholarship for a course of her choice at any LimKokWing University of Creative Technology worldwide.

The four-year tertiary study sponsorship for the Miss Tourism International winners and runner-ups from 2019 was formalised through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the university and Miss Tourism International at the university’s main campus on Nov 1.

Overjoyed Payumo later said : "It is a good stepping stone for me to win as I would love to pursue my higher studies in Mass Communications and to be able to interact, and to touch people's hearts by being a tourism advocate not only to my country but to the world," adding that as a language enthusiast, Malaysia was the best place to learn new languages such as Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil.

This year's pageant themed 'Embracing Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020', was the 22nd edition in running, aimed at promoting Visit Malaysia Year 2020. The pageant was first held in Sarawak in 1994.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Malaysian contestant, Cheryl Loo Wen Nee only managed to make it into the top 10. However, she won three out of 16 subsidiary titles namely Miss Gintell Wellness, Miss Glamorous Carlo Rino and Miss Glorious Beautiful.

--BERNAMA