New research has shown that the Wonders of the World, long considered draw cards when it comes to attracting travellers, are now being overlooked.

The latest survey conducted by global hotels expert Hotels.com, has found that global holidaymakers are leaving many of these ‘must-see' landmarks off their travel itineraries while one in five (20%) global holidaymakers have never even heard of the Wonders.

One in Four Hong Kong Travellers Skipped the Wonders of the World

On a global perspective, one in five (20%) travellers had never heard of the Wonders of the World. Almost 13% of Hong Kong travellers were not aware of the Wonders.

The top three wonders identified by global travellers were the Great Pyramid of Giza (72%), the Great Wall of China (68%) and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (67%). For Hong Kong travellers, they are most familiar with the Great Wall of China (78%), the Great Pyramid of Giza (64%) and Taj Mahal (60%).

The Most Visited "Wonders" by Hong Kong Travellers: The Great Wall of China

According to the survey, the Wonders of the World that attracted the most global travellers included Rome's ancient amphitheatre the Colosseum (33%), the Great Wall of China (17%) and the Great Pyramid of Giza (16%).

The global top three coincides with the local result of Hong Kong. The most visited Wonders of Hong Kong travellers were the Great Wall of China (48%), Colosseum (20%) and the Great Pyramid of Giza (13%). The surveys also showed that the Great Wall was the most visited Wonders by the travellers from China (78%), Korea (33%) and Japan (20%). In India (44%), the Great Wall only came second following its national heritage Taj Mahal (89%).

Despite the appeal of the world's most spectacular natural wonders and manmade structures, some have been barely visited by global travellers, including Machu Picchu (5%), Peru's Inca sacred site and Petra (6%), Jordan's archaeological desert phenomenon. Only one in eleven (9%) of travellers around the world have visited famous sites such as Christ the Redeemer, Brazil's statue of Jesus Christ, and the Taj Mahal, India's majestic marble mausoleum.

All respondents from China, Japan and India had never visited Christ the Redeemer may be unexpected to many people too.

Hong Kong Travellers Wish to Add the Terracotta Army of Xi'an to the Wonders

When being asked to add one more Wonder to the existing list, travellers around the world chose the Grand Canyon (19%).The following "natural wonders" are the Niagara Falls (14%) and the Mount Everest (5%).The man-made wonders are lead by the Maya Ruins (14%), the Terracotta Army of Xi'an (11%), Angkor Wat (10%) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (10%). 

Hong Kong travellers expressed that that they would like to include the Terracotta Army of Xi'an (19%) and Grand Canyon (16%) as the Wonders of the World. Across the five Asian countries namely Korea (20%), Singaopre (20%), India (17%), China (14%) and Japan (9%), Angkor Wat gained wide support to be added to the Wonders. 

# The New/ Ancient "Seven Wonders of the World" include: