The New7Wonders Foundation has announced its 28 final candidates in its Official New7Wonders of Nature Campaign.
The Kalahari Desert, as well as the Sossusvlei, Namibia’s hopeful, are however not part of the finalists.
The Kalahari was suspended due to the reluctance of Botswana and South Africa to come on board with Namibia to establish a supporting committee, said Sem Shikongo, director of tourism in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
“We struggled to get our counterparts in South Africa and Botswana hooked on to doing something and so Kalahari fell out. Sossusvlei was fully supported by the Namibian Government and we met all the requirements,” said Shikongo.
Sossusvlei could, however, not gather enough votes to the next level of the campaign.
The Kalahari was among the top 77 nominees and was ranked 3rd while the Sossusvlei was in 16th position.
The ministry and other institutions in the tourism sector, such as the Namibia Tourism Board, were unaware of the New7Wonders Campaign and it is not clear who nominated both the Sossusvlei and Kalahari to be participants.
In an earlier interview, Shikongo said the ministry was never informed about the competition, but would however have supported it.
“I am not happy with the way they (New7Wonders Foundation) conduct their business,” he told the Economist this week.
The Sossusvlei might still stand a chance of participating in the campaign as it has been put on “Reserve List” of the Official New7Wonders of Nature Campaign, which includes nominees from the second phase, according to Nadja Rahal, head of production at the New7Wonders Foundation.
Rahal explained that should one of the 28 participants be eliminated for not adhering to competition rules, it would be replaced with a site on the reserve list.
She encouraged Namibians to continue to support the Sossusvlei by using the international voting line, which is +41 77 312 4041.