Tourism through the Ages - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 39

E GLOBAL INSIGHT E

New Wonders
B ernard Weber, a Swiss filmmaker, created a popularity

the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro; Machu Picchu in Peru; the Maya
ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico; the Colosseum in Rome; and
India's Taj Mahal.

contest to choose seven new world wonders since the Great
Pyramids of Egypt are the sole remaining wonder of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World. Nearly 200 early candidates
chosen by Internet ballot were reduced down by a panel of
experts to 21 finalists. Online and telephone call-in voting on
finalists began in 2005. Nothing prevented multiple voting by
travelers, fans, citizens, governments, tourism organizations, and
so on. The poll was decidedly unscientific.

All are sites well worth visiting, but it will be interesting to see if
Weber's ''New Seven Wonders'' become an accepted list because
his campaign did not receive the backing of major mainstream
monument designation organizations or at UNESCO's World
Heritage agency.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Even so, millions of people from around the world voted via the
Internet to choose a new list of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The winners were announced on the seventh day of the seventh
month in the year '07 (07/07/07). Winners were: the Great Wall
of China; the ancient city of Petra in Jordan; the statue of Christ

1. What marketing opportunities are present from being named

a new ''wonder of the world''?

2. What do you think of Weber's methodology to choose the

new seven wonders?

became very fashionable among members of high society, not only for their curative aspects but also
for the social events, games, dancing, and gambling that they offered. The spa at Bath, England, was
one such successful health and social resort.
Sea bathing also became popular, and some believed that saltwater treatment was more bene cial
than that at the inland spas. Well known in Britain were Brighton, Margate, Ramsgate, Worthing,
Hastings, Weymouth, Blackpool, and Scarborough. By 1861, the success of these seaside resorts
indicated that there was a pent-up demand for vacation travel. Most visitors did not stay overnight but
made one-day excursions to the seaside. Patronage of the hotels at these resorts was still limited to
those with considerable means.
Thus, tourism owes a debt to medical practitioners who advocated the medicinal value of mineral
waters and sent their patients to places where mineral springs were known to exist. Later, physicians
also recommended sea bathing for its therapeutic value. While spas and seaside resorts were rst
visited for reasons of health, they soon became centers of entertainment, recreation, and gambling,
attracting the rich and fashionable with or without ailments. This era of tourism illustrates that usually
a combination of factors rather than one element spells the success or failure of an enterprise. Today,
hot springs, although they are not high on travelers

. Examples
in the United States are Hot Springs, Arkansas; French Lick, Indiana; and Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
The sea, particularly in the Sun Belt, continues to have a powerful attraction and is one of the leading
forces in tourism development, which is evident from the number of travelers to Hawaii, Florida, the
Caribbean, and Mexico.

' priority lists, are still tourist attractions

EARLY ECONOMIC REFERENCES

As tourists traveled to see pyramids, visit seaside resorts, and attend festivals and athletic events, they
needed food and lodging, and they spent money for these services. Traders did the same. Then, as now,
the economic impact of these expenditures was dif cult to measure, as evidenced by the following
quotation from Thomas Mun, who in 1620 wrote in England

There are yet
some other petty things which seem to have a reference to this balance of which the said of cers of

' s Treasure by Foreign Trade: ''