Around 90 global landmarks will be illuminated in green for St. Patrick's Day celebrations next month, promoted by Tourism Ireland.
World-famous sites such as Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and Nelson’s Column in London will be lit up as part of the seventh annual Global Greening.
As well as many repeating sites, several new places have been added this year, including 7 World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York, the Big Wheel on Place de la Concorde in Paris, Mole Antonelliana in Turin and the light rail system in Addis Ababa.
Tourism Ireland - the organisation responsible for promoting Ireland as a holiday destination abroad - is promoting the Global Greening as part of its €21.5 million first-half promotional drive in 2016.
Minister for Tourism Paschal Donohoe said the initiative is a great way to get people to start thinking about coming to Ireland, at the start of the holiday period.
"[This is] supported by broadcast, print and online media, ensuring widespread publicity for Ireland at minimal cost. In fact, Tourism Ireland estimates that its Global Greening and St Patrick’s promotional programmes generate positive publicity worth in excess of €10 million each March."
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons added: “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. Our St Patrick’s programme will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as emerging tourism markets such as China, India and Brazil.
"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 in 2016."
