Tourists or not, Lake Titicaca already is a wonder

Following on the media success of the New Seven Wonders internet election (in which Machu Picchu was selected as one of the seven), the same group is now opening nominations for the New Seven Natural Wonders. The Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca (ATL) is promoting the nomination of Lake Titicaca, partly in the hopes of promoting tourism to the region.

I am fascinated by this desire to recreate a modern version of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. Those seven sites were chosen not because they were the most amazing on the entire globe, but because they were the major attractions on a well-established route for Greek, and later Roman, tourists. (For more on this, see Feifer 1985)

The New Seven Wonders follows in that tradition. All the “winners” are major tourist attractions, in addition to being marvels of human creativity and architectural virtuosity. They are not all along the same tourist route, but that partially a result of how tourism has changed. One change is obviously the speed, ease, and First-World affordability of long-distance travel and communication. But the other is how First-World conceptions of labor have changed. In the U.S., two weeks of vacation a week is now common; even Europeans have limited time, albeit longer. Few can afford to spend months or years traveling (although there are exceptions), so our trips become more focused both geographically and temporally.

I imagine this new election will follow in the tradition of choosing “natural wonders” that are already popular with tourists. But in the end, “wonder” is not determined by majority vote, but by personal experience. Even if Lake Titicaca is not among the final seven, anyone who has been there knows that it evokes true wonder. I have never seen water or sky so blue. It is spectacular and unique.

We should also hope that we live in a world with more than seven places that can be called wondrous.