Pyramids of Giza to go green on St Patrick’s Day
Pyramids of Giza to go green on St Patrick’s Day
The Pyramids of Giza, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen and the Las Vegas ‘Welcome’ sign are among the landmarks set to go green for the first time on St Patrick’s Day 2013 as part of Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘global greening’ initiative.
Other first timers pledging to go green this year include HMS Belfast in London, City Hall in Houston, Texas, the Citadel in Jordan, the Tower of Hercules (a Unesco World Heritage Site in Galicia in Spain), the futuristic new Eye Film Institute in Amsterdam, the International School in Bonn and the Allianz Arena in Munich (home ground of FC Bayern Munich).
Iconic sites around the world that will be turning green again include the Sydney Opera House, Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, Burj al Arab in Dubai, Table Mountain in South Africa, the Empire State Building in New York, Burg Theater (City Hall) in Vienna, the Sky Tower in New Zealand and the TV tower in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.
“Even the Pharaohs are going green this year to mark The Gathering,” said Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar. “This is a major coup for Irish tourism with more major landmarks like the ancient Pyramids of Giza, the revered Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil and the home ground of Bayern Munich turning green for 2013.
“It’s the fourth year of the ‘global greening’ initiative and Tourism Ireland will now kick off its first major promotional campaign for 2013 in the key markets of Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia and new markets like China, India and South America. We’ll be using every opportunity to send out the message that Ireland is the place to visit in 2013, including through the visit of major global media outlets to Dublin on 17 March. Irish landmarks will also be going green including Leinster House, St Stephen’s Green, the Four Courts and Charles Fort in Kinsale, with further announcements likely.”
“We are absolutely delighted that so many well-known sites and attractions are eager to come on board with us and join in our celebrations,” said Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland. “The success of our ‘global greening’ is due in no small part to the great work that has been carried out across the world by Irish people down the generations and, in particular, to the great support we’ve received from Irish ambassadors and the Diaspora. The eagerness to take part underlines the strength of the deep spiritual connection that people everywhere feel to Ireland – a major boost in this special year of The Gathering Ireland. Over 70 million people around the world claim links with the island of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.”
“Our St Patrick’s programme will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as developing markets such as China, India and South Africa. There will be saturation coverage of the island of Ireland across the airwaves, in newspapers and digital media – and that’s an invaluable boost for our overall tourism marketing drive this year.”