Seems the madness of Madoff type schemes are rife even in the conservation marketing world of tourism. New7Wonders, a company which was running the new 7 wonders of the world contest, is apparently not doing this for just conservation purposes but to make a lot of money. While I have no issues with tourism helping out with the conservation of a place like Komodo (which right now is in a bit of dire need of help anyhow!), when companies like New7Wonders make money with text messages etc for contests, and then demand payment from host countries for the right to be named... it does make me sad.
I hate to be cynical but so many things are tied into marketing nowadays that it's impossible to get an impartial view of the place. I've always questioned websites like Tripadvisor, DPreview and other sites which do not make full declarations of how they are connected to the products. Sigh!
