EXCLUSIVE: The Secrets Behind Miss Tourism Pageantry- Santiago Roberts Reveals

Santiago T. Roberts is a man with a very great mind. At first contact with him, his simple face or normal physique may not portray what nature hides in his brain. But the man is made of huge ambitions.

The Nigerian Institute of Journalism degree holder is the Chief Executive Officer of QHUE Concepts; the company behind the Mr. Universe Nigeria Contest, Miss Tourism Nigeria Pageant, The MAN Magazine, Men’s Fashion Week Nigeria amongst other brands.

The very ambitious and resourceful entrepreneur spoke exclusively with News Rain about his ideas and concepts, especially Miss Tourism Nigeria.

 Roberts Miss Tourism Founder.

Who is Santiago Roberts,

I am an effective communicator and have excelled in the areas of events planning and management, branding, content development, and media.

I will say Santiago is an obsessively creative genius always looking for how to create the next spark. Somehow, I really can’t say when it started but I have got this huge? character flaw? which is always trying to find that little detail that others tend to miss to add that little spark to create an explosion; by explosion, I mean something so small but creatively mountainous.

Why Miss Tourism?

To be able to effectively share what inspired the Miss Tourism Nigeria Brand, we must first look at the parent company,

QHUE Concepts was established in 2011 in response to a growing demand for creative, informative, and effective communications. The QHUE Concepts team establish itself as a highly specialized group of brand communication engineers, events managers, creative directors, marketers, and entertainers offering a fully integrated public relations, marketing, consultancy, events, and communication solution in line with our clients’ needs and requirements.

We believe that you only need to add a little heat to create something thats explosive and that’s why we deliver for any brand, no matter what the product, budget, or time frame. With us, it’s all about the idea, so whether it’s developing a brand personality or bringing a product to the people, we know how much to capture the imagination.

NOW, Qhue Concepts has been in the business of pageant development, production, management, and consulting for over 10years.

What Really Inspires you?

My life’s goal has always been to add value. To discover, nurture, support, and develop talents not just to become a powerful force but most importantly, to become a uniting force. This I would say is what inspired me to create the Miss Tourism Nigeria platform; a contemporary showcase that is geared towards discovering, managing, and promoting super talents who will spread their wings in the fashion, entertainment, and general show-biz industry.  The Miss Tourism Nigeria Brand is strategically designed not just to add value to the contestants but also in the long term, ensure they become a force to reckon with, both here in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

The Journey So Far

The journey so far has been a roller coaster of so many emotions of triumphs, challenges, disappointment, and joy… But despite it all, we continue to move, because we’ve not even scratched the surface of the goals we’ve set for ourselves as a brand. But, while we may still be aiming for that prize, we are also definitely grateful for the strides we’ve made. And we are only thankful to God for how far we’ve come as a brand

What Are The Major Memorable Moments?

A few days ago, we were ranked the 3rd largest and influential pageant in the country.

We’ve also received several nominations and won the awards for the BEST PAGEANT brand in Nigeria.

When We begin this journey in 2012, Miss Tourism Nigeria was not listed or even recognized as a top 25 pageant company. But in 9 years, we’ve worked tremendously to become a top 3 pageant company… Our aim is not to be in the top 3 in Nigeria but a continental reference point for the pageant industry across Africa.

We’ve also had some other fantastic memories and we certainly can’t take all the glory but also show huge gratitude to our amazing queens who’ve done their best to keep the brand growing from levels to grace.

In 2012, Miss Tomi Salami represented Nigeria at the global edition of the Miss Tourism World event in Bangkok Thailand amongst over 60 countries while Miss Jennifer Igwegbe did Nigeria proud when she represented the country in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea for the 2013 edition of the Miss Tourism World event which also featured about 68 nations.

In 2014, Collete Nwadike who clinched that title was appointed as Special Advisor Tourism to the Anambra State Governor, His Excellency Willie Obiano.
Collete went on to represent Nigeria amongst over 70 countries and became the 1st black girl to ever win the EXQUISITE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE Pageant.

She has since become one of the most celebrated beauty queens across the continent.

Striving hard to fill those shoes, our 2015 queen, Ifeoma Sharon Anya became a U.N Ambassador and also became the first reigning queen to become a High Chief.

Who Were The Main Past Winners?

2012 – Tomi Salami
2013 – Jennifer Igwegbe
2014 – Collete Nwadike
2015 – Sharon Anya
2016 – Ogenna Ekwubiri
2017 – Chiamaka Chinwuko
2018 – Chisom Agu
2019 – Yetunde Barnabas.

Where Are They Now?

While the Miss Tourism Nigeria doesn’t just focus on winners only as we have participants who are creating tremendous value in various facets of our national economy, we’ve been blessed with winners who are also leaving no stone unturned towards reaching their potential and being a voice that resonates.

What Have Been The Impact On The Society?

Miss Tourism Nigeria pageant is a leadership platform for ambitious young Nigerian women. Through a pageant reality TV show, contestants receive world-renowned coaching in addition to advanced networking, business and life skills as 36 beautiful, diverse and powerful women are shaped into celebrated Tourism Ambassadors of their states; role models with voices that resonate and brands that inspire 365 days a year.

 Specifically Are We Looking Up To in The 10th Edition?

We are already making very elaborate plans and preparations are already going on underground for our 10th anniversary.

We’ll be unveiling these plans soon as the central working team finalizes in them but you can rest assured that we are not going to leave any stone unturned to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

How Will You Generally Rate Beauty Pageantry in Nigeria?

Well, I believe that pageants in Nigeria are still at the growing stage, some will argue we should have grown past the stage that we are but again, the economic conditions of a particular environment will always play a significant part in the overall development and growth of any industry.

I do however believe that we are on the right path and the Nigerian pageant industry will reach its full potential sooner than most think.

What Are The Challenges?

I believe that the major challenge is finance. I have interacted with several pageant owners and organizers and the major challenge has always been financing.

The Nigerian corporation sector hasn’t fully grasped the huge role and importance pageants play, even the government itself is yet to tap fully into the power of pageantry as a tourism marketing tool and Understanding that it requires funding and sponsorship to be able to become an attractive means of driving its tourism numbers.

Most pageants are funded by their owners or organizers, and due to the heavy burden of self-funding, it doesn’t allow for growth and the level of creativity and production excellence that could have been achieved through these pageants.

It’s my hope that more brands will begin to throw their weighs and of course their money behind the pageant industry so that the industry can grow.

This Year, we’ve been able to sort of tweak the Miss Tourism Nigeria Event into becoming the first pageant TV Reality Show in Nigeria. We Absolutely can’t wait to share this experience with the rest of Nigeria and the world.