Torres del Paine becomes the 8th Wonder of the World

 8th Wonder of the World

After four months of voting, the competition to go with the eighth Wonder of the World turned ended and the winner turned into Torres del Paine National Park.

The popularity changed into being brought today in Los Angeles, United States, in a tv program, and the actor Cristián de La Fuente was the Chilean who received the award.

 

Torres del Paine

The competition was held between June and September by the VirtualTourist.com website, part of TripAdvisor Media Group, and attracted more than 5 million votes. More than 50 countries with 330 destinations participated and the top ten included places from El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Slovenia, Mexico, Scotland, Belize, and Croatia.

"Torres del Paine Park has stood out around the world for its natural beauty and landscapes, and we always trust that it had enough attributes to become the Eighth Wonder of the World," said the Undersecretary of Tourism, Daniel Pardo. "We are very happy for this appointment and we hope with this to continue motivating more tourists and adventurers to visit Torres del Paine, enjoy its charms and take advantage of visiting and getting to know the various attractions of Chile."

For his part, the Mayor of the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, Claudio Radonich, pointed out that “this is also a management award because the investment made in the park in recent years must be recognized, which effectively makes It has a world category, as we can see today by being, among more than 300 places around the world, the most beautiful natural site chosen by thousands and thousands of voters ”.

Andrea Wolleter, general manager of Turismo Chile, an institution in charge of the international promotion of Chile, highlighted that “this recognition gives us great international visibility since VirtualTourist.com receives more than 8 million unique visits per month, 40% of which are its audience in the United States and 60% globally ”.

Kimberly Stirdivant Wason, VirtualTourist Marketing Manager commented: "With its impressive attributes and moving landscapes, it is no surprise that VirtualTourist users have chosen Torres del Paine as the winner of this contest."

Torres del Paine prepares to receive tourists

 Regarding visits to Torres del Paine National Park, the Undersecretary of Tourism explained that “in 2012 the park received a total of 143,253 visits, of which 56,134 were Chilean and 87,119 foreigners, and in the high season of 2013, which considered from January to March, was visited by 84,413 tourists, 25% more than the previous season ”.

The regional mayor highlighted the great progress that the national park has experienced after three major accidents that occurred in recent decades, the most recent in late 2011 and early 2012, which resulted in thousands of hectares burned.

“We have tripled the range of park rangers this yr, we've got an everlasting helicopter in it to attend emergencies, there are two brigades located in specific locations, and there's surveillance with cameras 24 hours an afternoon, we're speaking approximately new protocols with a purpose to permit any An indication of fire, right now all of the human and monetary sources of Conaf, the local and provincial government, are at their disposal ", introduced Radonich, highlighting the preparations which might be deliberate to be completed soon to the indoors avenue network and the reforestation works to recover the regions wrecked.

For the Regional Director of CONAF Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, José Fernández, the distinction “is a source of pride, as it values ​​the natural heritage of one of the national parks most loved by citizens and encourages us to continue our efforts to maintain a consistent management to the requirements that these international recognitions are imposing on us ”.