Global landmarks from Egypt’s pyramids to Rio’s statue of Christ to go green for St. Patrick’s Day - PHOTOS

PHOTOS – Check it out the world’s iconic tourist spots “go green” for St. Patrick’s Day

The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro are among world landmarks that will “go green” to mark St Patrick’s Day this year, the Irish government and Ireland’s marketing body, Tourism Ireland, have announced.

Other newcomers going green for the first time include the famous “Welcome” sign in Las Vegas, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, 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).

The new sites will join some ‘old favorites’ which have gone green in previous years on 17 March, including 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.

Speaking at the launch Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar said, “This is a major coup for Irish tourism…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.”

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said, “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 London and Stockholm to Las Vegas.
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.”

PHOTOS – Check it out the world’s iconic tourist spots “go green” for St. Patrick’s Day

Here’s a video from the launch:

North America

*Niagara Falls, United States and Canada
*The ‘Welcome’ Sign, Las Vegas
*City Hall, Houston, Texas
*Coit Tower, City Hall and the Ferry Building Marketplace, San Francisco
Great Britain
*HMS Belfast, London
*Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
*Town Hall, Manchester

Mainland Europe

*The Little Mermaid, Copenhagen
*Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
*Prince’s Palace, Monaco
*Allianz Arena, Munich
*TV Tower in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, Germany
*‘Lighthouse’, Dusseldorf
*Odeonplatz, Munich
*International School, Bonn
*Tower of Hercules, a UNESCO World heritage Site in Galicia, Spain
*EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam
*Burgtheater (City Hall), Vienna
*Manneken Pis Statue, Belgium (Dressed in Irish costume)

Australia and New Zealand

*Sydney Opera House, Australia
*Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand
Emerging Markets
*Christ the Redeemer Statue, Rio de Janeiro
*Pyramids and the Sphinx, Egypt
*Burj Al Arab, Dubai
*Citadel, Ammam, Jordan
*Table Mountain, South Africa
*Wheel of Excellence at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, South Africa

PHOTOS – Check it out the world’s iconic tourist spots “go green” for St. Patrick’s Day

Source: MerrionStreet.ie

For more information visit www.TourismIreland.com.