25 Jan 2022

Miss Botswana Palesa Molefe has proved the effectiveness of using  influencers to market brands.

Prior to being crowned the queen and participating in Miss World beauty spectacle, Molefe had made her name in social platform Tik Tok as an influencer, a trait that came handy in her partnership with Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO).

Pictures of her tourism activities have attracted a lot of attention among her legion of followers.  

She recently returned from a holiday organised by Miss Botswana in partnership with BTO, where she had the opportunity to visit some of Botswana’s tourist attractions in Okavango and Kasane.

In an interview, Molefe could not stop boasting about how beautiful Botswana was.

She highlighted the stunning beauty of the vegetation and the best place to see elephants.

It was evident that Kasane had not only captured her heart but the whole world, evidenced by positive responses to her posts.

“My holiday in Kasane has been absolutely amazing, we did a lot of activities such as boat riding and we got to see the beautiful pans on a helicopter ride.”

It was cherry on top when she flew over the unique pulsing wetland, the Okavango Delta.

The scenic flight above the waters of the 1000 world heritage site introduced her to Botswana’s diverse landscape.

Over the years the thought of experiencing this natural miracle which is a patchwork of river channels from the sky, she said, was a dream she only experienced through Instagram pictures and through the lenses of tourists.

“Botswana tourism is one of the biggest industries that we have.Even though it was hard hit by the pandemic I’m happy that it’s gaining back its confidence,” she said.

She takes prides of the many hidden gems the motherland has. Her determination is to continue unravelling unknown tourism spots.

In her efforts to market Botswana worldwide is a trending video at the Miss World Competition where the world experienced her roots through a picture of the moonscape saltpans of the Makgadikgadi region.

Miss Botswana couldn’t stop expressing gratitude towards Batswana for the heartwarming and amazing welcome from Puerto Rico in December last year after the postponement of the pageant which is to take place in March.

As one of the Top 40 Contestants who have secured a place in the competition, she cannot wait to go back to Puerto Rico.

“What I miss most about the place is their culture, being their dance and music, when they celebrate they go all out and it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.”

She also said she misses to connect with different parts of the world because connecting with the Contestants is like connecting with different parts of the world every single day,” she said

About the preparation of Miss World, the pageant’s brand manager, Massie Hule, said Molefe was perfecting herself for the return.

“She is back in gym, busy with public speaking training and also working with several designers engaged to create her new wardrobe,” he said.

Last year some fans were concerned about Molefe’s wardrobe and that saw some prolific designers coming on board to enhance her wardrobe.

Mampale as affectionately called by her fans will be competing with 40 contestants in Puerto Rico on March 16.  ENDS