The newly crowned Miss New Zealand Georgia Waddington will be visiting Rarotonga later this month, and her host is hoping to capitalise on her wide social media following to promote the island destination.

Businessman Mike Pero said he has known Waddington, 22, since she was a young child – “the Waddington family have been good friends of my wife and I”.

Pero, a Cook Islander, said one of his companies in Christchurch sponsored Waddington in the lead-up to the Miss New Zealand event.

“Georgia is a great ambassador for us and is well-connected on social media. In fact, Georgia has a following of more than 39,000. These are people that get updates, photos, and general chat from her on a very regular basis,” Pero told Cook Islands News.

“Her exposure will be even greater going forward on a number of different marketing channels.”

Pero said that on July 23, Waddington and partner Jackson will arrive in Rarotonga, where they will stay for five days, as special guests at their Tukaka Ocean View, Matavera property. 

Waddington, a social media influencer and content creator, never thought that she would ever be competing in a pageant before entering Miss New Zealand.

She was crowned Miss New Zealand on June 18.

According to Star News, Waddington was hesitant about entering the Miss New Zealand contest as she had never done anything like it.

She heard about it after she was tagged in a social media post looking for contestants, she had a long chat with the pageant director and decided to participate.

Winning the title came as a shock to her.

She won awards for Top Model, Social Media Queen, and Best in Swimwear, Best in Evening Wear, Miss Fitness and Charity Queen at the pageant, held in Auckland.

The former Rangi Ruru Girls’ School student is dedicated to her ambassadorial work for I Am Hope and Brave NZ.

She is to represent New Zealand at the Miss International 2023 Pageant in Japan in October, where she is expected to wear a custom-made New Zealand national costume and gown.