The announcement of the New7Wonders of Nature was covered by media around the world. Commentary ranged from the delight expressed by the 7 named to the graceful acceptance of the result by the 21 other Finalists. Here is a sample of the global reporting:
USA: “The people have spoken. Millions of voters from around the world have cast their ballots for seven sites to be included in the New7Wonders of Nature list,” wrote Tanya Mohn of msnbc.com in an article titled “Tally from 2-year vote reveals New 7 Wonders of Nature”.
BRAZIL: “The choice of the Falls and the Amazon as part of the New 7 Wonders of Nature provides an invaluable image of two of our major tourist destinations,” the president of Embratur, Brazil’s official tourist board, Flavio Dino, commented in “Brasil COMEMORA as duas indicações das Maravilhas”. He added: “It reinforces the image of Brazil as a country with a great range of tourist destinations and the environmental preservation of these two wonderful sites is in line with a growing economy, which will be fifth in the world in 2020.”
INDONESIA: “A natural wonder: What next for Komodo?” speculated the Jakarta Post, which noted: “The Official Supporting Committee for Komodo Dragon Park, known as P2Komodo, told a press conference on Saturday that the park’s victory in the New7Wonders of Nature global competition was the beginning of many efforts to develop East Nusa Tenggara, one of the country’s poorest and most remote regions.”
AUSTRALIA: The Telegraph, in an article titled “World’s new seven wonders of nature unveiled“, observed that, “Australia’s natural icons missed out on a spot, despite the Great Barrier Reef being named as an early favourite. International sites which have failed to make the cut include Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, the Dead Sea and the US Grand Canyon.”
ARGENTINA: In Buenos Aires, the announcement topped the prime time news:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLT88AM7F4&feature=youtu.be
THE PHILIPPINES: “Vaulting from off-the-beaten track to global tourism map, the Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan has been voted one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature,” writes Paterno Esmaquel II of GMA News in “Voters hail Palawan river as 1 of 7 New Wonders of Nature“, adding: “Its new status is expected to boost tourism in the Philippines and enhance the reputation of Palawan as a province of varied natural attractions and robust environmental protection.”
SOUTH AFRICA: “South Africa will gain an additional 108,000 international tourists a year due to the increased exposure of Table Mountain as a New 7 Wonder.” So said Martin Jansen van Vuuren, spokeperson for accounting firm Grant Thornton. He was quoted the South African Broadcasting Corporation in “Table Mountain named ‘Wonder of Nature’“. Martin Jansen van Vuuren contined: “The value of this tourism increase is estimated to be approximately R1.4 billion per year for the first five years following the inclusion.”
SOUTH KOREA: “I’m so glad that I’m almost speechless. I appreciate support from the people of the country,” Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Governor Woo Keun-min was quoted as saying by the Korea Times. “Through almost four years of voting where 1 billion people around the world took part, Jeju has already been gaining recognition. The listing will open a new chapter for the island in terms of not only tourism but also in every other sector,” he added in an article titled “Jeju chosen as one of new 7 wonders“.
VIETNAM: “Vietnam welcomes Ha Long Bay as new wonder of the world” reported SGGP, which describes itself as “The Organ of the Party Committee, The Communist Party Vietnam”. According to SGGP, “The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a gala night in Hanoi Saturday to celebrate Ha Long Bay’s new status as one of the world’s Seven New Natural Wonders after a four-year voting campaign.”
UAE: The Gulf News, which is based in Dubai, wrote: “Winners of New7Wonders vote ecstatic over outcome“. Israel’s Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov is quoted as calling the campaign “a true victory”. He said, “Thanks to the impressive campaign led by the Ministry of Tourism over the last two years, hundreds of millions of people worldwide have now been exposed to the Dead Sea.”
CANADA: “No wonder, but no regrets” is how the Herald News put it. “It’s a little disappointing but we have no regrets. We had a great run and we created a tidal wave of interest in the Bay of Fundy,” said Terri McCulloch, the Bay of Fundy Tourism executive director, responding to the news that the Canadian Finalist was not named as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. She added: “We estimate that we got $8 million of media exposure, and that is more than the annual provincial tourism budget. We can still say that we were Canada’s top wonder.”
INTERNATIONAL: “New seven wonders of nature” was the CNN title on the story, which featured a slide show of the 7, beginning with the Amazon Rainforest. “The provisional new seven wonders of nature have been selected after a series of votes and expert judging. The vote was hosted by the “New7Wonders Foundation,” based in Zurich, Switzerland, which was founded in 2001 by Bernard Weber,” noted CNN.