Throughout human history, people have sought to build and to find the most incredible and awe-inspiring things. Alongside this effort, people have also sought to categorize and determine which things are worthy of the greatest attention. In ancient times, the Greeks published their list of “Seven Wonders of the World”, and since then, others have replicated these efforts. Through personal and public opinion, there are hundreds of natural and man-made things that can be considered “wonders” today.
Which ones are the most visited?
The Original Seven Wonders of the World
Of the original Wonders of the World, only one of them remains. The Pyramids of Giza, the oldest of all the man-made wonders, is the only wonder from this list to survive. And they are still a huge contender for the most visited wonder, even when considering all the declared wonders ever since! The pyramids attract more than 14 million tourists every year, making it one of the most visited spots on the entire planet.
Modern Lists
Many authors and organizations have compiled their own lists of “Seven Wonders” which fit into different categories. Some of these lists have garnered public recognition and thus attained a semblance of authority, while many others have fallen by the wayside and have been forgotten.
As such, it is difficult to make the claim of which wonder is the most visited, as it is difficult to determine what constitutes a wonder!
In 2001, however, a campaign was started which gained huge amounts of public support. New7Wonders wanted to create a new list that took into account the entire world and not just the world known to the ancient Greeks.
New7Wonders
The campaign to determine the New 7 Wonders started in 2001, and in 2007, after many rounds of public voting, the wonders were named. Those given the honor of being the New 7 Wonders were:
The Roman Colosseum
The latter is the most visited, receiving approximately 10 million visitors per year. The attraction is so popular that one section of it reportedly had 100 000 visitors in a single day! The second-most visited place on this list is the Taj Mahal which receives between seven and eight million visitors every year. Following the success and popularity of this campaign, a new campaign was launched to determine the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
New 7 Wonders of Nature
From 2007 to 2011, New7Wonders held their next campaign to determine the New 7 Wonders of Nature. The final seven were:
The Amazon,
Jeju Island
Ha Long Bay
Puerto Princesa Underground River
Komodo Island
Iguazu Falls
In terms of numbers of tourists, Jeju Island claims the top spot, having recorded a total of almost 14 million visitors in 2022.
Determining the numbers for natural wonders can, however, be difficult. The Amazon is so large that it covers an area almost as large as the area covered by the 48 contiguous states of the US. Tracking who goes in and out and for what purpose is almost impossible, especially since the Amazon Rainforest can be found in nine countries!
New 7 Wonders Cities
After the success of the previous two campaigns, New7Wonders launched a third to determine the New 7 Wonders Cities. The seven cities that were eventually chosen by public voting initiatives were:
Durban, South Africa
Vigan, Philippines
Havana, Cuba
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Doha, Qatar
La Paz, Bolivia
The most visited city on this list is, by far, Kuala Lumpur, which is expected to receive almost 30 million tourists by the end of 2024.
Other Lists
Of course, there are other lists compiled by people and organizations. These lists contain vastly different wonders, from the wonders of the industrial world to the wonders of the solar system, to the wonders of human achievement, and even less tangible objects. Of Deborah Cadbury’s Wonders of the Industrial World, the Panama Canal could vie for a position at the top of the list of most visited wonders, while The American Society of Civil Engineers names several wonders that could be considered, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Channel Tunnel, and the Empire State Building.
Astronomy magazine lists the Earth’s oceans as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Solar System”. The other wonders listed don’t have any visitors at all, at least not from Earth! If, however, one considers the list compiled by USA Today in 2006, then the clear winner would have to be the internet. The internet has over five billion users.
Conclusion
Depending on which lists are considered authoritative and which aren’t, it is difficult to make any factual claims as to which wonder is the most visited. Determining authority is purely subjective, so there can be no definitive answer.
