N7W: Vote for Table Mountain

2009-01-07 09:59

Cape Town - The results of the first phase of voting in the official New7Wonders of Nature campaign were announced on Wednesday at the New7Wonders Foundation headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

For South Africa, Table Mountain (winner of the national qualifiers) and the Kalahari Desert (multinational participant shared by South Africa) have qualified under the rules of participation.

These magnificent natural sites are amongst the 261 nominees now one step closer to potentially being chosen as one of the official New7Wonders of Nature by the people of the world.

Of the original 441 nominees, 180, or more than 40%, were eliminated as the next stage begins.

Tia Viering, Head of Communications for New7Wonders, says: "We congratulate the successful qualifying locations from South Africa and wish them the best of luck in the second phase of voting.

"We also at this time highlight the strong and enthusiastic participation of the other national nominees that are not proceeding - many have already benefited from a significant increase in worldwide awareness, which in itself is a recognised important benefit for all involved in the New7Wonders campaigns."

The South African national nominees that did not qualify through from the first phase are: Cape of Good Hope, Kruger National Park and Vredefort Crater.

In order to qualify for the next round of the New7Wonders campaign, all nominees needed endorsement from an official supporting committee.

21 official finalists to be chosen

Table Mountain was the only SA icon to get official support (from the Table Mountain National Park and Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company) a few hours before the first round closed on New Year's Eve.

SA Tourism backed out of its initial promise to officially endorse SA's four nominees, blaming a lack of funds.

Voting in the second phase of the New7Wonders campaign continues until July 7 2009, to select the Top 77 - the pool from which the 21 official finalists are chosen.

The qualified 261 national and multinational nominees from the 222 participating countries feature iconic locations such as the Grand Canyon, Loch Ness, Mount Fuji and the Black Forest, alongside the Amazon, the Danube, the Dead Sea, the Great Barrier Reef, Iguazu Falls, Mont Blanc, and Niagara Falls.

As in the original successful campaign that chose the Official New7Wonders of the World thanks to more than 100 million votes, the N7W Panel of Experts will select the 21 finalists from the top 77 - these will be announced on July 21.

At that time the third and final phase of voting will begin, and the people of the world will then have approximately 2 years to vote amongst the 21 Finalists for the Official New7Wonders of Nature, to be revealed in 2011.

More than 1 billion votes are forecast.

Click here to vote for Table Mountain and the Kalahari Desert.

- News24