The Mayong central museum, one of the tourist destinations to be promoted by the Assam ambassador. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Jan. 4: Wanted: A beauty with captivating eyes, lustrous hair and a personality that makes her the epitome of Assamese culture and tradition.

Sounds like an over-demanding matrimonial ad?

Actually, this is the kind of representative the tourism industry is looking for to hardsell the “natural beauty” of the state. A beauty to promote the cause of beauty, if you like.

Miss Assam Tourism 2007 will become the brand ambassador of the state’s tourism industry and help promote both popular and little-known tourist destinations across the state in India and abroad.

Organised by the state government-run Tourfed and backed by the All India Tour Operators’ Association, the pageant will be held in the lush green locales of Eco Valley Food Park on the outskirts of the city on January 20.

To be judged by Bollywood actress Rati Agnihotri, National Award-winning Assamese actress Moloya Goswami, fashion designer Meghna Rai Medhi, musician Dipak Sarma and author Maini Mahanta, it will be a pageant with a difference, promise the organisers.

“The idea behind the concept of selling tourism through a beauty is to add some vigour and vitality to Assam’s tourism industry. Our main motive is to sell the richness of rural tourism. Moreover, urban tourism in the state hardly exists,” managing director of Tourfed Amar Bora told The Telegraph.

The winner of the contest will also be responsible for promoting the state at national and international tourism fairs and festivals.

“Since the responsibility will be a huge one, we are looking for someone who will epitomise Assamese beauty, culture and tradition. She should have the calibre to stand out brilliantly in the international arena. In other words, the winner must be a mix of perfect beauty and brains,” said Bora.

The Miss Assam Tourism 2007 contestants will have to go through three rounds — traditional jewellery round, evening wear round and the question-answer round.

Besides the primary title, the subtitles to be given away are Miss Captivating Eyes, Miss Vibrant Skin, Miss Lustrous Hair, Miss Perfect Body, Miss Photogenic and Miss Enchanting Personality.

The winner of the annual calendar event will win a cash prize and free training in fashion designing course at the NorthEast Institute of Fashion Technology here.

One of the attractions of the Januray 20 event will be a performance by pop singer Suneeta Rao of “Pari Hu Main…” fame.

Popular choreographer Vikram Rai Medhi and radio and video jockey Tarana will handle the choreography and the compering of the evening.

Tourfed was asked why a beauty queen was necessary to promote Assam’s tourism.

“The purpose is to reach out to the world through a beautiful spokesperson who can interact with potential tourists and make them aware about the vast treasure trove in the state,” a Tourfed official said.

It remains to be seen if the tourism industry can really look up to this ambassador to promote its cause and rake in the moolah for this revenue-starved state.