The Komodo dragon to be Indonesia’s face to the world in tourism promotion; Komodo Island in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World competition.

The Secretary to the directorate general of the Culture and Tourism Ministry Noviendi Makalam said recently that the Komodo dragon, the giant lizard species found on its namesake island in Nusa Tenggara Timur near Flores, will be the national tourism icon or theme for 2011.

Next year, we will make Komodo as a main theme for our tourism

All tourism promotion events would make use of komodo symbolism, he said, largely because the Komodo Island National Park is in the running to be named one of the “New 7 World Wonders of Nature”.

Komodo National Park, which includes the three larger islands Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller ones, founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon, is one of 28 finalists in the New 7 World Wonders of Nature competition.

Map of the 28 finalists. Full size

The 7 winners will be determined by online voting, and announced on the auspicious date of November 11th, 2011 (11/11/11). Voting can be done here.

The full list of sites in the running:

• The Amazon (Bolivia/Brazil/Colombia/Ecuador/French Guiana/Guyana/Peru/Suriname/Venezuela)
• Angel Falls (Venzuela)
• Bay of Fundy (Canada)
• Black Forest (Germany)
• Bu Tinah Island (United Arab Emirates)
• Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)
• Dead Sea (Israel/Jordan)
• El Yunque (Puerto Rico)
• Galapagos (Ecuador)
• Grand Canyon (United States)
• Great Barrier Reef (Australia/Papua New Guinea)
• Halong Bay (Vietnam)
• Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil)
• Jeita Grotto (Lebanon)
• Jeju Island (South Korea)
• Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
• Komodo (Indonesia)
• Maldives (Maldives)
• Masurian Lake District (Poland)
• Matterhorn/Cervino (Italy/Switzerland)
• Milford Sound (New Zealand)
• Mud Volcanoes (Azerbaijan)
• Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)
• Sundarbans (India)
• Table Mountain (South Africa)
• Ayer’s Rock (Australia)
• Vesuvius (Italy)
• Yushan (Taiwan)