Around 430 iconic landmarks and sites in 54 different countries around the world were illuminated in green this weekend as part of Tourism Ireland’s 2019 Global Greening initiative to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.
From Rome to Rio, from London to Las Vegas, a host of buildings and sites around the world turned a shade of green to celebrate Ireland’s national day. The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world and probably the most iconic building in Dubai’s impressive skyline – took part for the first time in 2019. Other new sites included Victoria Falls, York’s medieval City Walls, Lord’s Cricket Pavilion in London, Nation Towers in Abu Dhabi, the Atakule Tower in Ankara and the Shizuoka Stadium ECOPA in Japan (where Ireland will play Japan in the Rugby World Cup in September).
They were joined by some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years, including the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, the Colosseum, Burj al Arab, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland Paris, the Great Wall of China, Niagara Falls, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
Tourism Ireland’s annual Global Greening initiative has gone from strength to strength – from its beginning in 2010, with just the Sydney Opera House going green, to this year, with around 430 sites taking part. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “This is the tenth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and it’s bigger and better than ever – with new additions this year like the Burj Khalifa, Victoria Falls, York’s medieval City Walls, the Cotton Tree in Sierra Leone and Lord’s Cricket Pavilion.
“St Patrick’s Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us; our aim is to bring a smile to the faces of people around the world and to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage. Our St Patrick’s programme spans Mainland Europe, North America, Great Britain, Australia and emerging tourism markets like China and the Middle East. We are using every opportunity to capitalise on Ireland’s heightened profile this weekend; the saturation coverage about the island of Ireland across the global airwaves, in newspapers and digital media, is an invaluable boost for our overall 2019 tourism promotional drive.”
