Yesterday, 7.7.2007, the new 7 wonders were officially announced during a lavish ceremony held in Lisbon, Portugal. The concept was laid by Bernard Weber, founder of New7Wonders Foundation and NOWC (New Open World Corporation) which stays behind it.

These are:

• Great Wall of China
• Petra, Jordan
• Christ Redeemer, Brazil
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Chichen Itzá, Mexico
• The Colosseum, Italy
• Taj Mahal, India

Logically, the new list is not the first attempt. There have been revisions since the Middle Ages taking in and out various places all around the world such as Hagia Sophia in Turkey or Porcelain Tower in China. Last year USA Today and the TV show Good Morning America held similar campaign in which, funny how and why, the Internet was also proclaimed a wonder and placed one step above the Mayan ruins and a little after the Polar ice caps.

Probably some of you are wondering why the old seven wonders were dethroned.

It’s sensitivity, wanderer. People are sensual, they need to see, touch and smell what they are told that exists. While only one of the old Seven Wonders still can be really seen and experienced, it is really hard for the mass culture to accept the Old Seven in real. The traditional wonders were proclaimed in the Hellenic world focused only on the places visited by the ancient Greeks, as said, it was an old-fashioned travel guide for fellow Athenians. Since all of them were destroyed, except the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, people need new, material wonders.

It’s economy, traveler. Tourism is industry just like any other and listing a wonder in the Seven is a major factor for publicity. It means attention, more travelers, and finally more income. It is a PR injection, a tool that is giving ballyhoo to the destination and the country it belongs to. However NOWC didn’t mention anything about the ownership rights of this list. Is it for profit? Is it free? Who can use it and how?

At last, since it is vacation season, be the first to go to the new seven wonders. Book a flight and enjoy.

Opinion
UNESCO affirmed that it has no link with the initiative. A paragraph from the press release reads “There is no comparison between Mr. Weber’s mediatised campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The list of the 7 New Wonders of the World will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.”

In Numbers

• According to the criteria of the New7Woners Foundation and NOWC, the new wonders had to be human-built and in an acceptable state of preservation.
• NOWC started work on the New7Wonders project in 2001.
• Their original list included 77 candidates.
• An Expert Panel, chaired by Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor Zargoza, anonymously rendered a list of 21 Finalists on
• January 1, 2006 and then it was given to the hand of publicity.
• According to the official statistics more than 100 million people voted for the new travel guide of world heritage and 1.6 billion from 170 countries watched the ceremony.