How costly will it be to be named one of the world's wonders?

Posted by TheYank at 8/18/2009 12:54 PM EDT

Maybe you saw the story on the Irish Central home page a few weeks ago about the Cliffs of Moher being short-listed in the competition to name the new seven wonders of the world. I didn't think about the story too much, but just figured it was a good thing.

Then last week while vacationing in upstate NY I was reading a copy of the Legislative Gazette, as one does when one is on vacation, and I came across a short article (p. 2) about Niagara Falls and the new seven wonders contest. Until I saw that story it hadn't occurred to me that the Falls were missing from the shortlist, but they are. And it isn't that they were simply overlooked.

According to the Legislative Gazette "[t]ourism officials on the U.S. side of the Falls say they
passed on the opportunity because of worries their cashstrapped community might be on the hook for costly promotional activities." Whoa! Hadn't ever considered this a possibility.

The Falls folks obviously believe it's going to require a lot of pocket cabbage, moolah, dough to make a serious attempt at being one of the new seven wonders. I never heard a mention of that back when we were all celebrating the Cliffs' success. I wonder how much the Irish tourism bodies are planning to spend on this campaign and will it be worth it.

Funny thing about the Cliffs' inclusion is that at the time I wasn't sure if the Cliffs were even the top wonder in Ireland. Are they really more wondrous and unique than the (near-by) Burren, the Giant's Causeway or even the Bog of Allen (which I accept ain't much to look at, but it's supposed to be something special in nature and endangered)? I don't know, but I'm even less sure that the Cliffs are more wondrous than Niagara Falls.

I suppose regardless I should wish the Cliffs of Moher people success in their efforts to be get the Cliffs named as one of the new seven wonders of the world, but mostly I hope they don't waste a lot of money on this.