Switzerland to crown best-looking ski instructor

GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland will crown its most handsome ski instructor next week, following a contest that has drawn hundreds of thousands of votes around the world.

"We have had more than 300,000 votes," said Roger Waber of the Swiss tourist board, which launched the campaign late last year with the slogan: "Switzerland has much more to offer than beautiful scenery."

Voters from Switzerland, Britain, Germany, the United States and elsewhere narrowed down the pool of 30 original nominees to three: 27-year-old Andreas Belser, 23-year-old Emanuel Utiger, and 25-year-old Thierry Wenger.

The winner will be announced on Monday, with a ceremony to follow on Valentine's Day.

On the www.myswitzerland.com Web site, the three finalists answered the question: "Which three things would you take with you to a remote mountain hut?"

"Ski, ski shoes and ski sticks to go back home again," said Belser from Adelboden. Utiger of the Bettmeralp resort opted for an ipod, a bottle of wine and "something to play with", and Wenger of Gstaad selected "a lot to eat and drink and friends".

One of the voters in the contest will win one week's hotel accommodation and ski lessons at a Swiss resort, though not necessarily with the contest winner, Waber said.

The Swiss tourist board is also offering on its website suggested spa packages to "recover from our ski instructors" as well as apres-ski bars "where ski instructors meet".

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Caroline Drees)