MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay businessman Lachu Ramchandani, founder of the Miss Global International beauty pageant, plans to sell the franchise.

“I will be 78 in five years, so after five more years I will be taking it all over the world, including India, then after that I will sell it,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Ramchandani explained that he will temporarily offer consultancy services to the successful buyer in order to ensure that the current high standards of the pageant are not compromised.

He proudly pointed out that, over the years, Miss Global International has been hosted in five locations outside of Jamaica: England, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Grand Cayman which hosted the 2024 show and is presently the front-runner for this year’s staging.

Before he relinquishes control, Ramchandani anticipates that the pageant will again be staged in Trinidad and Dominican Republic in addition to shows in India, Turks and Caicos, as well as Guyana.

To feed what he described as a passion for beauty pageants, Ramchandani launched Miss Global International in 2004, and he remains proud of the work he has done over the last two decades.

“This has been the first international show in Jamaica up to now. The only person who has brought an international show for the last 20 years, it’s me, Lachu Ramchandani. You can quote me on that! I have been involved in this industry from I was a baby. Yes, international modelling has been done, but there has never been an international show like Miss World or Miss Universe in Jamaica. I am the first one and still doing it,” he charged.

Over the years Miss Global International winners have emerged out of Zimbabwe, France, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Singapore, UK, Guyana, Australia, among other countries, Ramchandani told the Observer.

He also pointed out that since 2023 the pageant has been open to women up to 40 years old, even ones who are married, but they must have their husband’s approval to participate in promotions.

“We had a girl from Luxembourg, she was 39 years old,” he said.

He explained that he has sought to align the pageant with an industry that is vital to the Jamaican economy.

“Our theme is to unite the world through beauty and tourism. They must know something about tourism. Whichever country they are representing, they must promote tourism but, of course, we are selling our Brand Jamaica,” Ramchandani said.

The 2024 Miss Global International pageant was won by Guyana’s Arian Dahlia Richmond. The respective first and second runners-up were Selena Grant, who represented Turks and Caicos, and Caitlin Tyson, Miss Cayman Islands.