Campaign picks up in Jordan for Petra to be one of world's wonders

Nov 7, 2006, 12:50 GMT

Amman - Jordan on Tuesday launched a nationwide promotional campaign as part of a global voting competition that could lead to counting the ancient city of Petra as one of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'.

The rock-carved Nabataean city, also known as the 'Jewel of Jordan,' is competing for the distinguished title with 20 other world heritage sites.

Other sites include the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis, the Pyramids of Giza, Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany and Britain's Stonehenge.

The competition, organised by the Swiss-based non-profit New 7 Wonders (N7W) Foundation, is the first international voting campaign seeking to highlight leading cultural and historical treasures deemed worthy of global recognition.

A panel of architectural experts involved in intensive preparations for the competition since last year short-listed 77 nominations by millions of voters and announced the 21 finalists at the end of last year.

Jordan has begun its own promotional effort to raise the profile of Petra with promotional pictures of the ancient site and information on the different ways people can cast their vote splashed across the country's four Arabic daily newspapers.

Votes can be cast by telephone, online or by sending an SMS with the world 'PETRA' through the country's mobile networks.

The Jordan Tourism Board, the country's primary agency for marketing the country abroad, has also promoted the site extensively at international exhibitions over the past two months.

Winners of the title are scheduled to be announced on a live global broadcast from Lisbon on July 7 next year.