Ulma Hariyanto

Komodo’s ‘7 Wonders’ Drive is Flagging

If the Komodo Island National Park is to be recognized as one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature, the push has to move beyond a Facebook group and promotion on a Tourism Ministry Web site, a noted blogger said on Wednesday.

Enda Nasution said that Komodo Island’s recent drop to the 20th spot on the list was not caused by security factors — as stated recently by Tourism Minister Jero Wacik.

Even if the Ministry of Culture and Tourism reminds people to support the island by casting votes on www.new7wonders.com, not enough is being done to raise awareness, Enda said. “The government should focus more on online promotion and online campaigns. Concerts would be great to attract awareness, but not as much as getting people to go online and vote,” he said.

“It should be based on the combination of two approaches. The first, is to create maximum exposure via promotions with major online media, and to maximize social media campaigns. The current 1.2 million members of a Facebook group dedicated [to Komodo] should be expanded by providing frequent updates.”

He said another alternative was a separate Web site with information on why people should vote and spreading the word through Web site banners.

“Participation and inclusion is important so that people can have a sense of ownership in the campaign,” he added. He said that he only noticed the Ministry’s efforts a couple of months ago during “an awareness-raising concert in Bandung [the ‘Vote Komodo Party’].” With people being encouraged to vote through 2010 and 2011, he also thinks the span of the event itself made it trickier to build-up the hype.

Candra Widyarjana, 25, a postgraduate student from Jakarta, made similar comments. “Having its own Web site would be useful, since they can also add video content or animation to attract more users.”

Amir Karimuddin, 26, founder of Indonesian gadget blog gadnix.com, said the campaign needs endorsements from online public figures such as Pandji Pragiwaksono of Indonesia Unite and Enda. Amir has not voted yet since the deadline is at least 1.5 years away.

Twenty-eight finalists were selected via an online voting system in July 2009 following a campaign launched by the New7Wonders foundation.

The voting will run until 2011.

Recently, Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said that domestic security factors were to blame for the slump in rank.

The rare Komodo Dragon lives within the confines of the national park.

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