Over 30 of the world’s top, iconic landmarks across six continents went ‘green’ for St Patrick’s Day, with many famous additions to Tourism Ireland’s global initiative to capture public and media attention in key markets.
The celebrations kicked off with the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Sydney Opera House and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai all going ‘green’. Burj Al Arab in Dubai and Table Mountain in South Africa were next.
In Europe, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid, the TV Tower in Berlin, the ‘Lighthouse’ in Düsseldorf, City Hall in Brussels, the Burgtheater in Vienna, Hötorgsskraporna in Stockholm, and the Municipal Stadium in Poznań, Poland – where the Irish team will play during Euro 2012 – and the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, all went ‘green’.
Also in Spain, an entire town on the Costa Banca, called Moraira, went ‘green’ and, thanks to Irish student Ben Finnegan, so did the Town Hall in the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca.
In Britain, the London Eye went green once again and was joined by the Glasgow Eye, Selfridges department stores in London and Birmingham, the Town Hall in Manchester, the Clyde Auditorium (the Armadillo) in Glasgow, and The Hub and the Camera Oscura in Edinburgh. Even a flock of sheep in West Lothian, Scotland, donned green fleece for the day!
The homepage of lastminute.com in Britain was ‘greened’ from 16th – 19th March. Opodo sent out ‘Happy St Patrick’s Day’ emails with attractive holiday offers, and eBookers ‘greened’ five London taxis to promote their island of Ireland offers around the city.
In North America, Niagara Falls (both Canadian and US sides), the Empire State Building in New York, the replica ‘Chrysler Building’ in the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and both the Coit Tower and City Hall in San Francisco turned green.
Tourism Ireland availed of every opportunity to capitalise on Ireland’s heightened profile on TV, in newspapers and in digital media to promote good value holidays and short breaks, the ni2012 events in Northern Ireand, and to launch The Gathering Ireland 2013 overseas.
