Tourism Ireland announces Global Greening line-up for 2018

Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2018 sees the return of the Sydney Opera House and new additions like San Mamés stadium in Bilbao and Chimo the Polar Bear in Canada
300+ stadiums, statues, museums and towers set to go green to celebrate our national day

Chimo the Polar Bear statue in Ontario, the fountains in London’s Trafalgar Square and the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao – the home of Athletic Club Bilbao – will join Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative for the first time in 2018. And, making a welcome return this year, for the first time since 2014, is the Sydney Opera House.

Tourism Ireland today announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will go green to mark St Patrick’s Day this year, continuing the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to grow overseas tourism in 2018. The annual initiative, which sees a host of major landmarks around the world turn green for St Patrick’s Day, has grown from strength to strength, with lots of exciting new landmarks signing up to take part this year.

Other new sites and buildings for 2018 include: the Wawa Goose monument in Ontario and the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (also in Ontario), the National Football Museum in Manchester, the Palais de l’Europe (the seat of the Council of Europe) in Strasbourg, Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris, the beautiful Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Königsbau building in Stuttgart, Uilenburgersjoel Amsterdam, the Yokohama Marine Tower in Japan, Pen Monument in Hanoi, the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, as well as Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square) in Tallinn.

These new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica and the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® in Paris, the Sky Tower in Auckland, Niagara Falls and the London Eye. And, Chicago will be going all out to celebrate St Patrick and Ireland once again this year, with numerous buildings and sites across the city set to light up green – including Navy Pier, the John Hancock Center, the Wrigley Building, the Civic Opera House and Soldier Field (home to the famous Chicago Bears team).

Tourism Ireland’s unique global campaign – now in its ninth year – continues the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to build on the success of 2017 and grow overseas tourism to the island of Ireland again in 2018.

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, said: "I am delighted to launch Tourism Ireland’s 2018 Global Greening initiative which has now grown to become a significant worldwide reminder of both St Patrick’s Day itself and also of Ireland and its appeal as a visitor destination. The record growth in the number of tourists visiting Ireland in recent years bears testament to Tourism Ireland’s successful strategy of market diversification, implemented since 2014, and the Global Greening initiative is a very important element of this strategy. The St Patrick’s Day period provides a unique opportunity to promote Ireland on the international stage and to renew the strong bonds between Ireland, the global Irish abroad and our partners around the world. The Government’s “Promote Ireland” programme of international events over the St Patrick’s Day period will see the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers and the Chief Whip take part in programmes to promote Ireland and Irish interests in almost 40 countries across the globe. The Ceann Comhairle and Cathaoirleach of the Seanad will also participate. I commend all the staff in our Embassies and Missions overseas, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in Tourism Ireland for the outstanding work they have done in organising this campaign across the globe, which will no doubt further enhance Ireland’s profile abroad as a holiday destination of choice.”

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “This is the ninth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and each year I am delighted to see even more well-known attractions and landmark sites wishing to get involved and join our St Patrick’s celebrations. The success of our Global Greening initiative is due in no small part to the great work that has been carried out across the world by Irish people and the Diaspora. I would particularly like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the great support we receive from the Irish embassy network. The eagerness of cities and countries everywhere to take part underlines the strength of the deep connection that people all over the world feel to Ireland. More than 70 million people around the world claim links to the island of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.
 
“People across the world instantly identify St Patrick’s Day with the island of Ireland and that heightened profile allows us to put the Ireland holiday experience in the spotlight – from Sydney to Seattle and from Rome to Rio de Janeiro. Our St Patrick’s programme this year will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as emerging tourism markets such as China and India. There will be saturation coverage of the island of Ireland across the airwaves, in newspapers and digital media – and that’s an invaluable boost at this time of year for our overall tourism marketing drive for 2018.”

International journalists – representing top media outlets from around the globe – will visit Ireland, taking in the Dublin St Patrick’s Day parade during their time here. And Tourism Ireland will also exploit the profile of St Patrick’s Day with international media – sending images, video footage and news about Ireland to news desks around the world, as well as to its database of more than 20,000 influential travel and lifestyle media contacts.
 

LANDMARKS AND ICONIC SITES AROUND THE WORLD CONFIRMED TO TAKE PART IN TOURISM IRELAND’S GLOBAL GREENING INITIATIVE 2018

Note: first time ‘greenings’ marked *

Great Britain

London Eye
Heron Tower, London
Nelson’s Column, London
Selfridges, London
Selfridges, Birmingham
Selfridges, Manchester
Trafalgar Square fountains, London *
National Football Museum, Manchester *
Town Hall clock, Manchester
Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne

North America, United States
Empire State Building, New York
Wells Fargo building, Albuquerque
Chicago Board of Trade building
Civic Opera House, Chicago
Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago
John Hancock Center, Chicago
Novak Construction, Chicago
Navy Pier, Chicago
One Prudential Plaza, Chicago
Soldier Field, Chicago
State Street, Chicago
Wrigley Building, Chicago
Harbor Bridge, Corpus Christi *
Omni Dallas Hotel
Reunion Tower, Dallas
City Hall, Denver
City Hall, Houston
Junction Bridge pedestrian walkway and Main Street bridge, Little Rock
City Hall, San Francisco
Coit Tower, San Francisco
Space Needle, Seattle *

Canada
Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
Casa Loma, Toronto
City Hall, Toronto
The Distillery District, Toronto
Calgary Tower, Calgary
Chimo the polar bear, Cochrane *
Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat *
Cochrane sign *
Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
The Big Nickel, Sudbury
The Wawa Goose *

Mainland Europe
Austria

Burgtheater, Vienna•    Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum), Vienna *
Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), Vienna *
Wiener Riesenrad (ferris wheel), Vienna
Bergiselschanze (ski jump), Innsbruck
Belgium

Grand Place, Brussels
Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
Town Hall, Dinant *
Celtic Cross, Fontenoy
Belfry, Mons
Croatia

Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik *
Cyprus

Municipal Town Hall, Nicosia
Denmark

Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen *
Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Copenhagen
Estonia

Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square), Tallinn *
Finland

Ice skating rink, Oulu *

France

Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris
Beaugrenelle (shopping centre), Paris *
BHV Marais (Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville – department store), Paris
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
Château de la Muette (headquarters of the OECD), Paris
Galeries Lafayette, Paris
Irish Embassy, Paris
Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® Paris       
University of Angers – ESTHUA, Angers *
Hôtel de Ville, Cannes
La Croisette, Cannes
La Tour du Suquet, Cannes
Musée de la Castre, Cannes
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes
Tapis rouge lumineux (red carpet), Cannes
Secondary school, Châteaudun *
Hôtel de Ville, Grandvilliers
Hôtel de Ville, Mellac
Hôtel de Ville, Royan *
Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Mandé
Palais de l’Europe (seat of the Council of Europe), Strasbourg *

Germany

Lighthouse building, Düsseldorf
 Altes Rathaus, Gescher
 McKiernan's Irish Café, Gescher
 ‘Fridolin’ the carp statue, Höchstadt an der Aisch
 Allianz Arena, Munich
 BMW Welt, Munich
 Heidecksburg Castle, Rudolstadt
 Königsbau, Stuttgart *
 Neumünster church, Würzburg
 Rathaus (Town Hall), Würzburg
Hungary

 Müpa Budapest
 Tüskecsarnok (indoor arena), Budapest
Italy

 Colosseum, Rome
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
Il Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s Well), Orvieto
Torre del Moro, Orvieto *
The Netherlands

 SkyLounge Amsterdam *
 Splendor Amsterdam
 Uilenburgersjoel Amsterdam *
 DOT, Groningen *
 Euromast, Rotterdam *
 SkyView Scheveningen Pier, The Hague
 Windmill, Weert
Norway

 Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo *
Poland

 Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
Spodek (arena), Katowice
 Galeria Echo (shopping centre), Kielce
 Father Bernatek (Kladka Bernatka) footbridge, Kraków
 Lipska Street flyover, Kraków
 Tauron Arena, Kraków
 Archaeological Museum, Poznań *
 Bishop Jordan Bridge, Poznań *
 Grand Theatre, Poznań *
 Raczyński Library, Poznań
 City Hall, Toruń *
 Bank Zachodni WBK headquarters, Wroclaw
 Centennial Hall, Wroclaw
 Grunwaldzki Bridge, Wroclaw
 National Museum, Wroclaw *
 Opera House, Wroclaw *
 University Bridge, Wroclaw
 University of Wroclaw *
Portugal

Santuario Nacional de Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon
Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais
Serbia

 Ada Bridge (Most na Adi), Belgrade
Palace Albanija, Belgrade
 Hotel Moskva, Belgrade
 Canadian Embassy, Belgrade
 Glavna Pošta (main post office), Belgrade *
 Hotel Park, Belgrade
 House of the National Assembly of Serbia Narodna Skupstina, Belgrade
Spain

Tower of Hércules, A Coruña, Galicia
San Mamés stadium, Bilbao *
 Marbella arches
Tortosa town *
Sweden

Vasa warship, Stockholm
Switzerland

 The Rhine Falls, near Zurich                    
Australia and New Zealand
Australia

 Sydney Opera House
 Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
 Town Hall, Sydney
 The Big Kangaroo, Border Village
The Bell Tower, Perth
 Council House, Perth
 Elizabeth Quay, Perth
New Zealand

 Sky Tower, Auckland
Christchurch Airport
Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Emerging Markets
Brazil

 Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro
 Torre de TV Digital, Brasília
Torre da Globo (Globo TV Tower), São Paulo
 Catedral de Pedra de Canela, Canela, Rio Grande do Sul *
China

 Canton Tower, Guangzhou
Israel

 Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa *
 Water Tower, Ramat Gan
 City Hall, Tel Aviv
Japan

Ise Ohtorii, Ise City 
Yokohama Marine Tower, Naka Ward, Yokohama *
Malaysia

 Straits Quay lighthouse, Penang
Mexico

 El Ángel de la Independencia, Mexico City
 Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City *
 Glorieta de los Caballos, Guadalajara *
 Los Arcos, Guadalajara
 Monumento a los Ninos Héroes, Guadalajara
 Palacio Municipal, Guadalajara
 Parque Lineal Pablo Neruda, Guadalajara *
 Parque Unidad Deportivo la Tucson, Guadalajara *
 Paseo Chapultepec, Guadalajara
 Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres, Guadalajara
United Arab Emirates

Yas Viceroy hotel, Abu Dhabi
 Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Dubai *
 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai
Vietnam

 Pen Monument, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi *

For more information:
Orla O'Connell
ooconnell@tourismireland.com