As it attempts to make history, the Table Mountain Bid Committee is calling on every South African to set aside 30 seconds every Thursday to vote for South Africa’s nominee in the New7Wonders of Nature contest.
“2,500 years ago, Herodotus became a tour guide for intrepid Greek travellers,” Sabine Lehmann, chairperson of the Table Mountain Bid Committee, told NewsTime. “He put his thinking cap on and chose his most favourable seven sites. He told the world about his final list and the Seven Wonders of the World were born. Now that was one man who surely did not know it at the time, but it was his list that was to dominate the world’s history books. Now, South Africans all have a chance to name the new seven wonders of the natural world in the world’s biggest global election.”
According to Lehmann, voting for Table Mountain means that for thousands of years to come, children will be learning about it as one of the New7Wonders of nature, and that it will forever have a place in the history books of the world.
If Table Mountain is selected, South Africa can expect a massive boost in tourism revenue and brand value, Lehmann claims, pointing to studies that have shown that those sites participating in the New7Wonders of the man-made world (which were named in 2007) saw an increase of more than US$5 billion (R35 billion) in tourism revenue and brand value.
“South Africans have to make sure that our flat-topped wonder makes it into the final seven. It’s a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to create a legacy, an opportunity that we can’t ignore – there will never be another election like it. Once the final seven are decided, that’s it,” says Lehmann.
On Table Mountain Vote Thursdays, people can vote for the South African candidate by texting “table” to 34874. They can also vote by vistiting www.votefortablemountain.com or by calling+44 758 900 1290 and add the code 7725, as explained on this page: “Vote now by telephone for the New7Wonders of Nature”.