The Irish Travel Trade News Team – Ronan, Michael, Neil, Ian, Hilary and Manus – wish all our readers a joyful St Patrick’s Day.
The latest ‘icon’ to join Tourism Ireland’s global greening this weekend is Sir Richard Branson! The business magnate has dyed his beard (and eyelashes!) green and the Virgin website has also taken on a green hue – joining a host of famous landmarks and iconic sites around the world for Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘global greening’ initiative. Sir Richard is also tweeting a photo of his greened beard to his three million followers.
He said: “The whole world is going green for St Patrick’s Day and when I was asked what I would turn green for the day – it just had to be the beard! We’re always up for some fun at Virgin (our website has had a ‘green-over’ too), and would like to wish all our friends from Ireland and Tourism Ireland a very Happy St Patrick’s Day. It’s great to see Ireland getting back on its feet again and outperforming many other nations affected by the global financial crisis. I look forward to visiting your beautiful country again very soon.”
Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said that the response to the organisation’s ‘greening’ idea has been phenomenal everywhere. “Our ‘greening’ initiative has got even bigger and better this year, with some famous additions like the Pyramids of Giza, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Anfield stadium in Liverpool, the Eye Film Institute in Amsterdam, the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, the Gateway of India in Mumbai and even the Friends Arena in Stockholm, where the Republic of Ireland takes on Sweden later this month in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
“We aim to bring a smile to the world this weekend and to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as fantastic scenery and cultural activities. Our St Patrick’s programme spans Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as emerging tourism markets like China, India, the Middle East and South Africa. We are using every opportunity to capitalise on Ireland’s heightened profile this weekend; the saturation coverage about Ireland across the global airwaves, in newspapers and digital media, is an invaluable boost for our overall tourism marketing drive this year.”
About 70 landmark buildings and iconic sites around the world are going green this weekend to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. They include the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, Selfridges in London, Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj al Arab in Dubai and the Prince’s Palace of Monaco.
2013 Global Greening Landmarks
(First time ‘greenings’ marked *)
Britain
- Sir Richard Branson’s beard and Virgin Airlines website *
- HMS Belfast, London *
- Anfield Stadium (home of Liverpool FC) *
- London Eye
- Selfridges, London
- Selfridges, Birmingham
- Town Hall, Manchester
- Clyde Auditorium, affectionately known as ‘the Armadillo’ (SECC), Glasgow
- Taxis in London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester
Mainland Europe
– Austria
- Burgtheater (City Hall), Vienna
– Benelux
- EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands *
- Manneken Pis statue, Belgium (“dressed” in Irish costume)
- The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, Belgium *
– France
- Porte Saint-Vincent, Vannes *
– Germany
- Allianz Arena, Munich *
- TV tower in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz
- ‘Lighthouse’ in Düsseldorf
- Odeonsplatz in central Munich *
- International School, Bonn *
- Castle, Bad Homburg *
- Town Hall, Würzburg *
- Neumünster cathedral (built over the tomb of St Kilian), Würzburg *
- Fortuna Kulturfabrik, Höchstadt *
- Town Hall, Dillingen an der Donau
– Italy
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Palazzo della Loggia, Brescia *
- Torre del Filarete (entrance to the Castello Sforzesco), Milan *
– Monaco
- Prince’s Palace
– Scandinavia
- Little Mermaid, Denmark *
- Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden *
– Spain
- Palacio de Cibeles (Cibeles Palace), Madrid *
- Cibeles Fountain, Madrid
- Tower of Hércules, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Galicia *
- An entire town on the Costa Blanca called Moraira
- Town Hall, Pamplona (organised by Dubliner Joe Ó Máirtín)
- Town Hall, Salamanca
North America
- Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
- ‘Welcome’ sign, Las Vegas *
- City Hall, Houston, Texas *
- Coit Tower, City Hall and the Ferry Building Marketplace *, San Francisco
- Seattle Great Wheel, Washington *
- Pacific Science Center, Seattle, Washington *
- Massachusetts State House, Boston *
- City Hall, Toronto, Canada *
- Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada *
- Top Canadian chef Massimo Capra’s moustache
Australia and New Zealand
- Sydney Opera House
- Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney *
- Bell Tower, Perth *
- NSW Parliament sitting on 13 March (the parliamentarians will wear green and a shamrock pin!) *
- Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, New Zealand *
- Clock Tower, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Emerging Tourism Markets
- Christ the Redeemer statue, Brazil *
- Pyramids and the Sphinx, Egypt *
- Burj Al Arab, Dubai
- Kingdom Tower, Saudi Arabia
- Gorky Park, Moscow, Russia *
- Gateway of India, Mumbai, India *
- Temple of Hercules, Amman, Jordan *
- Merlion statue and fountain, Singapore *
- Table Mountain, South Africa
- Cape Wheel at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, South Africa
- Bell Tower of the Cathedral of Vilnius, Lithuania *
- National Bank, Bucharest, Romania *
- Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania *
- Athénée Palace Hilton hotel, Bucharest, Romania *
- JW Marriott hotel, Bucharest, Romania *
- SkyTower, Bucharest, Romania *
