Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, pictured at the launch of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2018 initiative today. Pic by Naoise Culhane
THE iconic Space Needle in Seattle, Chimo the Polar Bear statue in Ontario, the fountains in London’s Trafalgar Square and the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao – the home of Athletic Bilbao – will join Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative for the first time in 2018.
And, making a welcome return this year, for the first time since 2014, is the Sydney Opera House.
Tourism Ireland today announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will go green to mark St Patrick’s Day this year, continuing the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to grow overseas tourism in 2018.
The annual initiative, which sees a host of major landmarks around the world turn green for St Patrick’s Day, has grown from strength to strength, with lots of exciting new landmarks signing up to take part this year.
Other new sites and buildings for 2018 include: the Wawa Goose monument in Ontario and the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (also in Ontario), the National Football Museum in Manchester, the Palais de l’Europe (the seat of the Council of Europe) in Strasbourg, Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris, the beautiful Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Königsbau building in Stuttgart, the Yokohama Marine Tower in Japan, Pen Monument in Hanoi, the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, as well as Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square) in Tallinn.
These new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica and the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® in Paris, the Sky Tower in Auckland, Niagara Falls and the London Eye.
And, Chicago will be going all out to celebrate St Patrick and Ireland once again this year, with numerous buildings and sites across the city set to light up green – including Navy Pier, the John Hancock Center, the Wrigley Building, the Civic Opera House and Soldier Field (home to the famous Chicago Bears team).
Tourism Ireland’s unique global campaign – now in its ninth year – continues the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to build on the success of 2017 and continue to grow overseas tourism to the island of Ireland in 2018.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “This is the ninth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and each year I am delighted to see even more well-known attractions and landmark sites wishing to get involved and join our St Patrick’s celebrations.
“The eagerness of cities and countries everywhere to take part underlines the strength of the deep connection that people all over the world feel to Ireland.
“More than 70 million people around the world claim links to the island of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.
“People across the world instantly identify St Patrick’s Day with the island of Ireland and that heightened profile allows us to put the Ireland holiday experience in the spotlight – from Sydney to Seattle and from Rome to Rio de Janeiro.
“Our St Patrick’s programme this year will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as emerging tourism markets such as China and India.
“There will be saturation coverage of the island of Ireland across the airwaves, in newspapers and digital media – and that’s an invaluable boost at this time of year for our overall tourism marketing drive for 2018.”
LANDMARKS AND ICONIC SITES AROUND THE WORLD TAKING PART IN TOURISM IRELAND’S GLOBAL GREENING INITIATIVE 2018
Note: first time ‘greenings’ marked *
Great Britain
- London Eye
- Heron Tower, London
- Nelson’s Column, London
- Selfridges, London
- Selfridges, Birmingham
- Selfridges, Manchester
- Trafalgar Square fountains, London *
- National Football Museum, Manchester *
- Town Hall, Manchester
- Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne
North America
United States
- Empire State Building, New York
- Wells Fargo building, Albuquerque
- Chicago Board of Trade building
- Civic Opera House, Chicago
- Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago
- John Hancock Center, Chicago
- Novak Construction, Chicago
- Navy Pier, Chicago
- One Prudential Plaza, Chicago
- Soldier Field, Chicago
- State Street, Chicago
- Wrigley Building, Chicago
- Harbor Bridge, Corpus Christi *
- Omni Dallas Hotel
- Reunion Tower, Dallas
- City Hall, Denver
- City Hall, Houston
- Junction Bridge pedestrian walkway and Main Street bridge, Little Rock
- City Hall, San Francisco
- Coit Tower, San Francisco
- Space Needle, Seattle *
Canada
- Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
- Casa Loma, Toronto
- City Hall, Toronto
- The Distillery District, Toronto
- Calgary Tower, Calgary
- Chimo the polar bear, Cochrane *
- Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat *
- Cochrane sign *
- Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
- Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
- The Big Nickel, Sudbury
- The Wawa Goose *
Mainland Europe
Austria
- Burgtheater, Vienna
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum), Vienna *
- Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), Vienna *
- Wiener Riesenrad (ferris wheel), Vienna
- Bergiselschanze (ski jump), Innsbruck
Belgium
- Grand Place, Brussels
- Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
- Town Hall, Dinant *
- Celtic Cross, Fontenoy
- Belfry, Mons
Croatia
- Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik *
Cyprus
- Municipal Town Hall, Nicosia
Denmark
- Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen *
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Copenhagen
Estonia
- Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square), Tallinn *
Finland
- Ice skating rink, Oulu *
France
- Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris
- Beaugrenelle (shopping centre), Paris *
- BHV Marais (Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville – department store), Paris
- Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
- Château de la Muette (headquarters of the OECD), Paris
- Galeries Lafayette, Paris
- Irish Embassy, Paris
- Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® Paris
- University of Angers – ESTHUA, Angers *
- Hôtel de Ville, Cannes
- La Croisette, Cannes
- La Tour du Suquet, Cannes
- Musée de la Castre, Cannes
- Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes
- Tapis rouge lumineux (red carpet), Cannes
- Secondary school, Châteaudun *
- Hôtel de Ville, Grandvilliers
- Hôtel de Ville, Mellac
- Hôtel de Ville, Royan *
- Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Mandé
- Palais de l’Europe (seat of the Council of Europe), Strasbourg *
Germany
- Lighthouse building, Düsseldorf
- Altes Rathaus, Gescher
- McKiernan’s Irish Café, Gescher
- ‘Fridolin’ the carp statue, Höchstadt an der Aisch
- Allianz Arena, Munich
- BMW Welt, Munich
- Heidecksburg Castle, Rudolstadt
- Königsbau, Stuttgart *
- Neumünster church, Würzburg
- Rathaus (Town Hall), Würzburg
Hungary
- Müpa Budapest
- Tüskecsarnok (indoor arena), Budapest
Italy
- Colosseum, Rome
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Il Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s Well), Orvieto
- Torre del Moro, Orvieto *
The Netherlands
- SkyLounge Amsterdam *
- Splendor Amsterdam
- Uilenburgersjoel Amsterdam *
- DOT, Groningen *
- Euromast, Rotterdam *
- SkyView Scheveningen Pier, The Hague
- Windmill, Weert
Norway
- Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo *
Poland
- Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
- Spodek (arena), Katowice
- Galeria Echo (shopping centre), Kielce
- Father Bernatek (Kladka Bernatka) footbridge, Kraków
- Lipska Street flyover, Kraków
- Tauron Arena, Kraków
- Archaeological Museum, Poznań *
- Bishop Jordan Bridge, Poznań *
- Grand Theatre, Poznań *
- Raczyński Library, Poznań
- City Hall, Toruń *
- Bank Zachodni WBK headquarters, Wroclaw
- Centennial Hall, Wroclaw
- Grunwaldzki Bridge, Wroclaw
- National Museum, Wroclaw *
- Opera House, Wroclaw *
- University Bridge, Wroclaw
- University of Wroclaw *
Portugal
- Santuario Nacional de Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon
- Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais
Serbia
- Ada Bridge (Most na Adi), Belgrade
- Palace Albanija, Belgrade
- Hotel Moskva, Belgrade
- Canadian Embassy, Belgrade
- Glavna Pošta (main post office), Belgrade *
