Zurich/Switzerland, Jan. 7, 2009—The results of the first phase of voting in the Official New7Wonders of Nature campaign were announced today at the New7Wonders Foundation headquarters. The 261 magnificent natural sites that have made the cut are now one step closer to potentially being chosen 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. A list of all 261 qualifying sites is at the bottom of this press release*.
Tia Viering, Head of Communications for New7Wonders, says “We congratulate the successful qualifying locations 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 recognized important benefit for all involved in the New7Wonders campaigns.”
Voting in the second phase 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, the Kalahari Desert, Mont Blanc, and Niagara Falls. As in the original successful campaign that chose the Official New 7 Wonders 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.
Vote now at www.new7wonders.com
Contact: Tia B. Viering, tia@n7w.com, Tel: +32-2-503-4767 or +32-473-79 57 53 (mobile)
*ALL 261 NOMINEES IN THE 2ND STAGE ARE LISTED AT WWW.NEW7WONDERS.COM
