Miss Universe Pageant 2007 to be Held in Mexico City

Mexico City will be hosting Donald Trump"s Miss Universe Pageant 2007, marking the second time in 15 years that the city-one of the world"s largest--has played host to this top-line event.

The pageant, to be held for the second time at Mexico City"s state-of-the-art National Auditorium (the first was in 1993), will be broadcast live May 28 at 9:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST) by NBC and the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

Prior to the show, contestants will visit a variety of locations throughout Mexico to prerecord segments and attend special events. Tourism locales featured in the show will include the colonial cities and prehispanic sites of the southeastern state of Chiapas as well as Cancun"s world-famous beaches, whose turquoise waters and white-sand shores will serve as a breathtaking backdrop for the pageant"s swimsuit photo shoot.

The pageant"s host city boasts attractions that rival the beauty of the contestants themselves. These include the world"s third-largest flower market (Cuemanco), three World Heritage Sites (the canals of Xochimilco, Luis Barragan"s House and Studio and the downtown area), the only castle in the Americas (Chapultepec) and more museums than any other city in the world. The pageant"s host venue also offers a rich history, having been the site of the 1968 Summer Olympic Games" gymnastics competitions.

Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Universe 2006, joined Francisco Lopez Mena, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board, one of the pageant"s sponsors, to disclose the details of this event at the Cancun Media Marketplace, a one-day seminar in New York to showcase the tourism amenities of Mexico"s premier resort city.

In addition to hosting the pageant, Mexico has also produced a winner: Lupita Jones in 1991.

About the Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico's tourism attractions and destinations nationally and internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB is Mexico"s tourism promotion agency, and its participants include members of both the private and public sectors. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

About Chichen-Itza, the World Wonder
Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation is revising the original seven ancient wonders of the world, and Mexico"s Chichen-Itza in Yucatan State is one of 21 finalists to become a new Seven World Wonder. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, Chichen-Itza is considered to have been one of the greatest Mayan centers of the Yucatan peninsula, and today is one of the largest and most impressive archaeological sites in Mexico. To vote for Chichen-Itza as one of the new Seven World Wonders, visit the "new7wonders" website.

FOR PRESS ONLY: For additional ideas, help with a story or general travel and tourism information about Mexico, please contact the MTB"s North American Press Room directly at 1-800-929-4555.

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Erick Laseca
Mexico Tourism Board
312-228-0517 ext14
erick.laseca@bm.com
http://www.visitmexico.com