9 years ago the New 7 Wonders of Nature were revealed, chosen globally by over 500 million votes. This campaign was the second global campaign launched by the New7Wonders Foundation, and it has produced a new phenomenon in world tourism: the Wonder Effect.
In an unprecedented campaign, in 2007 over 100 million votes chose which destinations would be the New 7 Wonders of the World. After such success, the New7Wonders foundation launched a new campaign to select the New 7 Wonders of Nature and the winners were announced on November 11th 2011.
Many studies have shown what the Wonder Effect is: after being chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders every destination showed an incredibly fast growth, even surpassing the world tourism growth.
The 2020 latest global study launched by the independent future strategy consultancy Curiositas revealed that Wonder destinations “reflect a notable competitive edge when compared to standard tourist destinations, growing twice as fast on average”.
A different study conducted by the IERAL Fundación Mediterránea stated that international arrivals to South America showed the highest growth rate worldwide after the Iguazu Falls were chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
In this regard, during the post pandemic the Argentinian side of the Wonder, Puerto Iguazú, the city of the falls, is in the top 5 of the most chosen destinations by local tourists to travel around the country looking for nature sites.
The coronavirus pandemic reignited the desire to reconnect with nature and discover the simplest things in life. In the post-pandemic, countries that have one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature among their destinations ensure that sustainable destinations are the tourists number one choice.
The New 7 Wonders of Nature are Table Mountain, on South Africa; Jeju Island, in South Korea; Iguazú Falls, in Brazil and Argentina; Komodo Island, in Indonesia; Amazon, across South America; Puerto Princesa Underground River, in the Philippines and Ha Long Bay, in Viet Nam.
Happy anniversary to our New 7 Wonders of Nature!