The world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel has proved as popular as the Taj Mahal, greeted over 3,000 celebs and become a celebrity in its own right: all by the age of 10!

London, 9 March 2010: The London landmark and global icon, the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, today celebrates its tenth birthday. Having welcomed over 36 million visitors, with more than 45,000 rotations, 433 weddings (including 21 civil partnership ceremonies) and over 3,000 celebrity visits; the modern icon now stands alongside heritage sites such as the Taj Mahal and Statue of Liberty as one of the most popular worldwide visitor attractions.

Launched in 2000, amidst the capital’s Millennium celebrations, the world renowned structure was originally expected only to reside on London’s Southbank for five years with an estimated 1.5 million visitors each year. The London Eye has since risen to such popularity that, with an average of 3.7 million visitors per year, the initial lease was extended to 2025 and is now regarded as a permanent fixture on London’s skyline. The attraction also launched the London Eye River Cruise in 2002 and recently extended its visitor experience to include a pioneering 4D experience developed at the world famous Pinewood Studios which is included in the ticket price. The 4D experience is a £5 million project that illustrates the positive investment being made by the Merlin Entertainments Group who own and operate the attraction.

Since launching ten years ago the London Eye has received visitors from near and far admiring the unrivalled views of the capital. Although in its opening year some 78 per cent of visitors were UK residents, it is now proving to be an even bigger draw for international visitors. In 2009, 70 per cent of visitors were travelling from abroad, with Spanish, French, Italian and German tourists being the most frequent European attendees. However, it’s Americans who make up the vast majority of non-European international visitors and prove that the London Eye can compare with their home-grown sites such as the Empire State Building and Golden Gate Bridge.

Over its ten year journey, the London Eye has also undertaken some commendable charity work for both international causes and local community projects. By 2009 the attraction had donated a massive £4,050,715[1] <#_ftn1> , in addition to giving away thousands of London Eye tickets to charities every year. Onsite charity projects include holding a fair-trade event with world music performers in capsule attended by Damon Albarn in support of the Café Direct fundraising campaign; and in 2007 the attraction helped launch the Comic Relief ‘Big One’ campaign with a host of celebrities including Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Davina McCall- and even turned one of capsules into a Big Red nose! The London Eye also supports the Merlin Entertainments Group charity Merlin’s Magic Wand with fundraising activity undertaken by staff.

David Sharpe, Divisional Director of London Midway attractions, Merlin Entertainments comments, “The London Eye has far exceeded any of our initial expectations when we opened in 2000. Ten years on and we’ve achieved fantastic success, with visitors from all over the world coming to enjoy the city landscape.

Our eleventh year has already been very busy and we’re really excited about what the future holds for the attraction. We hope people can come down and celebrate with us in our birthday month and visitors should look out for more celebrations throughout the year too!”

For more information about the London Eye’s birthday celebrations and to receive a 10% discount on all bookings visit www.londoneye.com. Alternatively call 0870 5000 600 to speak directly to a representative.

* Special 10th birthday tickets for 10am flights each day throughout March will be available at the reduced price of £10 and can be booked in advance via the London Eye website (www.londoneye.com) from 00.00 9th March onwards. Limited tickets for each 10am flight are available to be sold on a first come first served basis.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, we are delighted to award you our Hot Brands,Cool Places, Cool Place Award in celebration of your 10th Birthday and in recognition of all your fantastic achievements during that time !

FUN FACTS

· The London Eye has featured in thousands of films and TV shows including the much loved Simpsons, where Homer searches for Bart from a capsule

· A London Eye capsule was the setting for Karl Kennedy’s second proposal to Susan in Neighbours

· 165,676 bottles (829,880 glasses) of Champagne have been served since opening

· 8638 boxes of Pink Champagne Truffles have been shared on board since opening

· 433 weddings, including 21 civil partnerships, have been held on board since opening

· 30,000 fireworks have been launched from the London Eye structure since opening

· 36 unique capsule experiences are now or have been available, from Pommery Champagne tasting to children’s party capsules

· The London Eye Silver Bonito boat has undertaken 18,000 river cruise journeys since launching in 2002, covering 90,000 miles of river

· Kate Moss holds the record for the UK celebrity that’s enjoyed the most rotations, standing at 25

· Jessica Alba holds the record for an overseas celebrity that’s enjoyed the most rotations, standing at 31

· There are 32 capsules in total, one for each of the London boroughs. For superstitious reasons they are numbered up to 33, with capsule 13 left out for good luck

· Each capsule weighs 11 tonnes - in total the London Eye weighs 2,100 tonnes, the equivalent to 1,272 London Black cabs

· It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five different counties to make London’s icon a reality for both Britons and tourists alike