Cliffs fail in Wonders of Nature bid

THE local economy has missed out on a major tourism boost after the Cliffs of Moher failed to make it into the New 7 Wonders of Nature last Friday.

Initially, 440 places were identified as contenders for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. This was narrowed down to 77, before a further round of public voting brought the Cliffs onto the final shortlist of 28.
An unexpected early announcement of the top ranking 14 candidates in the New 7 Wonders of Nature global contest were announced at 4pm on Friday, November 11, 2011. The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland’s only finalist in the global campaign, was not one of the final 14.
The provisional list of the New 7 Wonders of Nature was then released later that evening. It named Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, Puerto Princesa Underground River and Table Mountain as the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
While the results are described as “provisional” it seems unlikely the Cliffs could jump more than seven places in any recount.
Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes acknowledged that making it to the final seven of 440 was going to be a tough task.
“Of course, we’re disappointed that the Cliffs of Moher didn’t make it to the final seven but it was always going to be a huge challenge given the relative sizes of the population versus some of the successful candidates. More people than ever have heard of the Cliffs of Moher now and we will certainly look forward to welcoming them to Clare in the years ahead,” he said.
“All of us in Clare know the Cliffs of Moher is a special place and this campaign has put the Cliffs of Moher on the must-see list of many potential visitors to Ireland. The campaign has resulted in excellent exposure for the cliffs, for Clare and for the West of Ireland. The cliffs’ involvement in the contest has already benefited the local tourism economy,” he added.
The Cliffs of Moher vote, which gained significant momentum in the final weeks of the campaign, was not sufficient to overtake the front-runners.
Ennis, county town of Clare, is twinned with Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, where the Grand Canyon also missed out on a Top 14 spot. The Bay of Fundy in Canada, which had linked with the Clare landmark early this year, was not named in the list either.
Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Katherine Webster congratulated the winners and paid tribute to all those who had supported the cliffs campaign over the four years of the contest.
“We have been delighted to have the Cliffs of Moher contending for a spot in the New 7 Wonders of Nature and we know that a great number of Irish people and members of the Irish diaspora around the world weighed in with their support. We congratulate the top 14 candidates and the eventual winning seven.
“Supporters [of the cliffs] included public figures who endorsed the campaign; State agencies, who promoted it nationally and globally; members of the national and local media, who gave considerable coverage to the contest and members of the local tourism industry, who put a considerable amount of work and resource into promoting the cliffs’ position.
“We are currently working on further enhancing the overall tourist product and look forward to continuing to welcome visitors to the Cliffs of Moher, to what is one of the natural wonders of the world.”
The New 7 Wonders of Nature contest was organised by the Swiss non-profit New 7 Wonders Foundation, an organisation who in 2007 completed a previous campaign to choose the New 7 manmade Wonders of the world.
The foundation has announced plans to release verified voting tallies in the coming days and they are already planning for their next voting campaign – New 7 Wonders Cities.