Table Mountain's status as one of the New Seven Wonders
of Nature has become official after an international audit
confirmed the result of a global voting process, the City of Cape
Town's Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille, announced
today.
Mayor De Lille described the title as "a great accolade for a
unique wonder of nature that belongs to all the people of Cape
Town, South Africa, Africa and the world. The New Seven Wonders
title has great long-term marketing value for Cape Town and South
Africa. The wonder becomes part of school curricula, it becomes a
"must see" and "bucket list" item for travellers and
explorers."
The New7Wonders Foundation, which is based in Switzerland and
regulated under Swiss law, has confirmed that Table Mountain's
"provisional" status after international voting closed on 11
November 2011 has been changed to "official". Hundreds of millions
of votes had been cast for 28 finalists across the world and all of
these numbers had to be verified.
"We will now start planning for the official inaugural event later
this year. An impressive commemorative plaque will be officially
presented by the New7Wonders Foundation. Table Mountain is unique
amongst the Seven Wonders in that it is in the heart of the city.
The others are a distance away from main centres. Table Mountain is
a marvel of history, geology, bio-diversity and it even has a
stellar constellation named after it," the Mayor said.
The other six wonders are the Amazon forest in South America,
Halong Bay in Vietnam, the Iguazu Falls in Brazil and Argentina,
Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo Island in Indonesia and the
Puerto Princesa underground river in the Philippines.
"I want to thank all the people of Cape Town, South Africa, Africa
and those across the world who voted for Table Mountain. Many media
channels in South Africa were generous in their support for the
campaign. Table Mountain and The City of Cape Town thank you, baie
dankie, enkosi kakhulu. The City will work closely with the South
African National Parks (SANParks). They are responsible for
managing Table Mountain as one of our country's national parks,"
said Mayor De Lille.
The Official Supporters Committee (OSC) started the Vote for Table
Mountain campaign three years ago at the first of three rounds of
voting. They approached the City of Cape Town for support in the
final round of 28 when the campaign needed a major thrust. The
City, through its Communication and Tourism Departments, launched a
high-impact, high visibility campaign "Seven Weeks to Seven
Wonders" for the final, decisive victory push.
"I thank the Committee and the City team for their successful
campaign and acknowledge the chairperson, Ms. Sabine Lehmann, and
Mr. Frans Stroebel for leading this campaign," said Mayor De
Lille.
Sabine Lehmann, chairperson of the Table Mountain official
supporters committee, said the official confirmation would provide
a significant boost to the South African tourism industry.
"Visitor numbers to Table Mountain reached record numbers after
the mountain was named on the provisional list of seven sites on 11
November 2011, and we expect the official confirmation to further
boost visitor interest locally and abroad," Lehmann said.
Gary de Kock, regional general manager of SANParks, said, "we
value that this award recognises SANParks' significant investment
in the natural heritage of this beautiful mountain chain and that
conservation adds value to the tourism economy."
Source: CityNews Online, May 2012