Crowned as the new Miss Tourism Queen International, Miss Latvia, Alisa Miskovska, was declared the winner in the pageant's coronation night held at Xianning, China, on Oct 3, 2013. Ms Miskovska bested 43 other contestants from different countries and was crowned by 2011 Miss Tourism Queen International, Kantapat Peeradachainarin of Thailand.

Miss Latvia Alisa Miskovska

The four other runner-ups include Miss South Africa, Roxzelle Rheeder, for first runner-up; Miss China, Tan Shiyu, as the second runner-up; Miss Korea, Na Ran Hi, for third runner-up; and Miss Portugal, Anna Bomfim, as the fourth runner-up. Philippines bet, Cindy Miranda, only made it to the Top 10 and failed to bring home the crown after Megan Young's victory in the Miss World pageant.

Born in Aug 26, 1987, Miss Tourism Queen International Alisa Miskovska was from Daugavpils, the second lagest city in Latvia. The 26-year-old beauty queen was ranked third in Latvia for ice skating championship when she was 15 and became the youngest coach in figure skating.

A self-made woman, Ms Miskovska graduated with honours from the University of Daugavpils, and for the past five years, the young coach dedicated her time in training new aspirants in figure skating. Her dedication, discipline and perseverance were mainly shaped because of her love in sports and that's the reason why she never gave up after failing twice to get the Miss Latvia Crown.

It was on her third try in 2011 that Miskovska was crowned Miss Latvia and represented her country in the Miss World 2011 pageant in London, UK. Her motto, "Through tears, hardship and pain - only to the first place!," is her guiding force to overcome all trials that she is going to face.

Founded by Charlie See, Miss Tourism Queen International started in 2004 and had seven editions. The pageant's location has always been in China untill it was cancelled in 2012. Last year's cancellation could have been a promising year for the pageant for it reached more than a 100 candidates but organizers decided to hold it.

Many are disappointed for this year's pageant because the event was not covered extensively, and even the Facebook page information seemed incorrect. Despite this, they are hoping for a better and well-organized Miss Toursim Queen International next year.