By Mama A. Touray
The crown holder of Miss Gambia has finished sixth at the Miss Tourism Africa Competition held in Nigeria, Lagos.
Beautiful and intelligent queens from 10 countries in Africa recently converged on Nigeria’s commercial capital for the continental tourism beauty contest.
A talented and accomplished beauty queen with a strong commitment to promoting Gambia’s tourism sector and cultural heritage, Ms. Njie left the country on September 22nd, 2023 for Lagos, where she represented The Gambia at the continental beauty pageant on 2 October 2023.
She finished sixth in the competition.
Shortly after returning to the country, Ms. Njie expressed gratitude and thanked the Gambian people for their “unwavering” support during the competition.
“I felt honoured and blessed to have been able to represent the country. It is something I have always wanted and have worked towards achieving. The Gambia has a lot to offer and a lot is yet to be discovered. The theme was “See Africa First”, meaning Africa including Gambia has been underrated when it comes to tourism sites and culture while everything started in Africa,” she stated.
Queen Njie believes that Gambia has so much to show the world in terms of the unique cultures, tourist sites, and places that the country can boast of.
Miss Tourism Africa gave the contestants the opportunity to demonstrate and market their countries’ tourism destinations and cultures.
“I believe my participation brought some light to where Gambia is located, how hospitable we are, and the tourism sites we have, including our beautiful unique cultures,” Ms. Gambia revealed.
The 2023 Miss Tourism Africa brought 10 contestants from 10 countries.
The 10 contestants competed for their countries but four were eliminated during the first and second rounds while six madeit to the final round.
Speaking about her performance at the competition, Ms. Njiesaid Gambia’s relatively small size doesn’t mean Gambians are not strong.
“I see Gambia my homeland as a great nation. Having that mindset pushed me to represent the country well and I madesure everybody left, remembering a country called TheGambia, has been represented. In that regard, I feel happy but it is a stepping stone for greater achievements,” she said.
As the current crown holder of Miss Gambia 2023, Ms. Glorious Haddijatou Njie is preparing to represent the countryat another beauty pageant in the coming month, where she will raise the flag of the Gambia as she did in Nigeria.
