Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening goes from strength to strength with 267 major landmarks and sites in 44 countries taking part this year.
Some 267 iconic landmarks and sites in 44 countries around the world will be illuminated in green over the coming days – as part of Tourism Ireland’s 2017 Global Greening initiative to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.
From Rome to Rio and from London to Las Vegas, a host of buildings and sites around the world are turning a shade of green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. New sites taking part in 2017 include four of Australia’s famous ‘Big Things’ (The Big Banana, The Big Kangaroo, The Big Merino and The Big Tasmanian Devil), One World Trade Center (the main building of the re-built World Trade Center complex in New York and the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere), the beautiful Petit Palais on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc in Barcelona.
They are joined by some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Colosseum in Rome, the Sacré Cœur basilica in Paris, the Great Wall of China, Niagara Falls 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 and the Sky Tower in Auckland going green, to this year, with 267 sites taking part.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “This is the eighth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and it’s bigger and better than ever this year, with some wonderful new additions like One World Trade Center in New York, A’DAM Toren in Amsterdam, the Petit Palais in Paris and the Chain Bridge in Budapest.
“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 we offer the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage. Our St Patrick’s programme spans Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as emerging tourism markets like China, Brazil and the Middle East.