Lines Form at The Great Barrier Reef's First Ever Polling Booth

SYDNEY, Oct. 26, 2011 / PR Newswire / -- Deep in the heart of the Coral Sea, patriotic Australians and enthusiastic travelers today snorkeled and splashed their way to the opening of world's most scenic and remote polling booth, placed on the Great Barrier Reef's tiny sandbank island of Upolu Cay, 30 kilometers northeast of Cairns.

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The pop-up booth was set up by Tourism Australia to promote voting for the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign – a global search to recognise the seven most wondrous natural sites in the world, as decided by the general public.

Fresh from experiencing the marvels of the reef, voters formed a patient line so that they could show their support for the Great Barrier Reef in its plight to be named a world wonder:

"Seeing a polling both set up in the middle of the ocean, miles from civilisation was certainly very surreal," says snorkeler, Laura Turner from QLD. "After seeing how incredible the Great Barrier Reef is with my own eyes, the booth gave me the ideal opportunity to place my vote right there and then – it definitely deserves to be named one of the New 7 of Wonders of Nature."

Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef have been shortlisted as two of the 28 finalists of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and now face stiff competition from other countries around the world including New Zealand's Milford Sound, South Africa's Table Mountain and The USA's Grand Canyon. The chosen seven wonders will be decided by a global public vote.

Executive Director of Earth Hour Global and ambassador for the Great Barrier Reef in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign, Andy Ridley, said that it's important for Australians to get behind our treasured national icons:

"There's no question about it, the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru are simply two of the most spectacular natural wonders in the world. We need to ensure that each continues to be recognised on a global scale. I encourage every Australian to show their support and vote for our icons in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign."

"It's great for Australia to have two of our most beloved natural icons shortlisted in this worldwide campaign," says Tourism Australia Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy.

"To gain further global recognition is an important opportunity for us, as it truly serves to reinforce our message that There's nothing like Australia to the rest of the world."

To vote for the Great Barrier Reef or Uluru in the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign go to www.n7w.com/gbr or www.n7w.com/uluru. You can also vote www.facebook.com/New7WondersofNature.

Voting will end at 11.11am GMT on 11 November 2011.

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New7Wonders of Nature Background:

The New7Wonders of Nature campaign, established by the New7Wonders Foundation, is a global search to recognise the seven most wondrous natural sites in the world as voted by the public.

Two of Australia's most famous natural wonders, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef fought off stiff competition from 440 sites across the globe. Both sites made it through as two of the 28 finalists alongside Angel Falls in Venezuela, Milford Sound in New Zealand, Bay of Fundy in Canada, the USA's Grand Canyon and the Amazon.

The campaign is now in the third and final stage of voting to determine the official New7Wonders of Nature with voting closing at 10.10pm AEST on 11 November 2011.

For more information, visit: http://www.new7wonders.com/

Tourism Australia's Involvement:

Tourism Australia is the Official Supporting Committee (OSC) for Uluru and is joint OSC with Papua New Guinea for the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Australia is using the campaign to showcase why there's nothing like Australia's natural wonders and to establish the global significance of Australia's natural landscape by encouraging votes nationally and internationally.

How to vote:

To vote for The Reef or Uluru in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign go to www.n7w.com/gbr or

www.n7w.com/uluru. You can also vote www.facebook.com/New7WondersofNature.

Voting will end at 11.11am GMT on 11 November 2011.

SOURCE Tourism Australia