(TAN): Tourism Ireland has announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will join its Global Greening initiative to mark St Patrick’s Day this year, continuing the organisation’s first-half promotional drive to grow overseas tourism to the island of Ireland in 2020.
Madison Square Garden in New York, the world’s largest beaver statue in Beaverlodge in Canada, a giant statue of a kissing couple in Amsterdam, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, Caerphilly Castle in South Wales, the Dubai Frame and even the Smurf Statue in Brussels will be part of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative for the first time in 2020.
Other new sites and buildings taking part in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2020 include: the National Museum of Qatar, City Hall in Bangkok, the World’s largest Hockey Stick and Puck on Vancouver Island and the National Theatre in London.
These new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Moulin Rouge in Paris (which will become the ‘Moulin Vert’!), Niagara Falls, the Sydney Opera House, Burj al Arab, the Chain Bridge in Budapest, the London Eye and many others.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, said: “I am delighted to be here today with Tourism Ireland, as they launch their 2020 Global Greening initiative, which has become so successful in helping to keep Ireland in the spotlight overseas during the St Patrick’s Day period. The tourism sector makes a huge contribution to the Irish economy and supports over 260,000 jobs throughout the country. Despite the challenges we faced in 2019, we are in a relatively strong position to grow this year.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “2020 marks the 10th anniversary 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.”
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“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 San Francisco and from Brussels to Buenos Aires. Our St Patrick’s programme will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as emerging tourism markets such as Japan and the UAE. 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 2020,” Gibbons added.
International journalists – representing top media outlets from around the globe – will visit Ireland 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.
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New for St Patrick’s 2020 is Tourism Ireland’s ‘Green is the new black’ campaign. Modelled on the Black Friday premise, ‘Green is the new black’ will be a ‘big splash’, time-limited sales period – offering prospective visitors in all our main markets the opportunity to avail of significant and exclusive savings on fares to travel to the island of Ireland and on tourism products when they get here. Tourism Ireland’s aim is capitalise on the exposure for Ireland delivered by the Global Greening and to stimulate sales at a key booking period.
