A camel in repose in Jordan's Red Rose city of Petra Jordan’s ancient city Petra was officially declared a candidate Tuesday in the contest to name the new seven wonders of the world at a ceremony amid its rose-colored stone buildings. Contest founder Bernard Weber presented Jordan’s Queen Rania with Petra’s official candidacy at the event that included a presentation on the way the city’s first inhabitants lived.

The New 7 Wonders of the World contest was launched in 2001 by Weber’s Geneva-based NewOpenWorld Foundation, which aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights. Twenty-one sites around the globe are vying to be declared wonders of the world. Source: [The Associated Press]

Well, of course, I’m excited. I’m not surprised, though, as Jordan embarked upon an effective marketing/awareness campaign to encourage people to vote for the ancient site. When I was at the Jordanian embassy here in DC several months ago covering an exhibition on Petra, I was pleased to see fliers encouraging voting for the historic site. I even made mention of this in my article:

The event comes at a time when Petra is competing for a spot in the "New Seven Wonders of the World" competition along with 20 other heritage sites. The competition, organized by the Swiss-based non-profit New 7 Wonders Foundation, is the first international voting campaign seeking to highlight leading cultural and historical treasures deemed worthy of global recognition. Visitors to Vidales’ exhibition were notified of the competition through fliers that were available at the venue. The fliers encouraged voting for Petra.

Jordanian bloggers also deserve some credit for spreading the word. Oh happy day!