Hundreds of tourists flocked to London to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II, delivering a major enhance to the town’s tourism sector.
And with the state funeral garnering document international broadcast numbers, the UK could also be in for one more much-needed customer bump, in accordance with one royal knowledgeable.
Viewership for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral might by no means be really identified – in Australia, TV viewers numbers peaked at 3.46 million metro viewers, although media stories estimate upwards of 4 billion viewers globally however even official TV scores solely inform a fraction of the story.
Nevertheless, the consequences of earlier large-scale royal occasions on UK tourism are properly documented.
Dr Cindy McCreery, head of the Fashionable Monarchy in World Perspective Analysis Hub and senior lecturer in historical past on the College of Sydney, famous a transparent hyperlink between previous royal occasions and a surge in international customer numbers to royal landmarks.
“The marriage of Charles and Diana at St Paul’s Cathedral in London in 1981 had an enormous bump on not simply tourism to London however particularly to St Paul’s,” mentioned McCreery.
This peak in curiosity round royal landmarks following a serious royal occasion could also be additional bolstered by proposed modifications to the royal residences that might make it simpler for worldwide vacationers to go to.
“Historically, Buckingham Palace has solely been open to guests for 2 months in July and August – when the Queen was at Balmoral – and that is going to alter,” mentioned McCreery.
“King Charles has mentioned that he needs to open royal residences to public entry extra, so vacationers will be capable of go to Buckingham Palace extra readily than they will in the meanwhile.”
The modifications are believed to increase to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Citadel, Balmoral, Sandringham and Clarence Home, with plans to make them obtainable for longer durations of the 12 months and with extra rooms obtainable to view.
This contains plans to increase visiting occasions for Sandringham from the present April to October window, to all-year spherical.
McCreery famous that the historic websites featured prominently within the late monarch’s funeral procession will probably be of explicit curiosity.
“Individuals could have seen Westminster Corridor, they will have seen Westminster Abbey, they will have seen St George’s Chapel and so they’ll assume ‘possibly I am going to go and go to’,” she mentioned.
Patricia Yates, chief government for the UK’s nationwide tourism physique Go to Britain, mentioned analysis confirmed exploring Britain’s historical past and heritage is the highest motivator for worldwide guests.
“We’re inspiring folks to e-book a visit to come back and see our world-renowned points of interest, our tradition, heritage and historical past for themselves and, as we look forward to the Coronation of King Charles III, to be a part of the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you could solely have in Britain,” she mentioned.
McCreery mentioned there’s a explicit curiosity within the youthful members of the royal household, pushed by gamers comparable to Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“These are very photogenic, lovely folks that individuals prefer to study extra about. I feel any alternative that individuals have to search out out extra about their lives, through the locations that they go to, goes to assist tourism,” she mentioned.
Revenue from ticket admissions to British royal residences amounted to roughly 50 million British kilos ($85 million) in 2019, with Windsor Citadel and Frogmore Home, Harry and Meghan’s residence on the time, among the many hottest residences to go to.
The royal-led tourism enhance comes because the UK tourism sector struggles to draw worldwide guests on the identical fee of its European neighbours.
In line with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics abroad arrivals knowledge for July 2022, the UK was the third main abroad vacation spot for Australians with 66,480 journeys that month – round 71 per cent of 2019 ranges. This follows New Zealand (96,180) and Indonesia (86,160).
Since Australian journey restrictions lifted in January 2022, the UK has seen an exponential rise in restoration from the Australian market, with flight bookings from Australia continuously exceeding pre-pandemic ranges, in accordance with Go to Britain.
The UK’s restoration lag has been blamed on a mixture of pandemic and political setbacks, together with hovering COVID charges simply as neighbouring international locations have been stabilising late final 12 months, and the consequences of Brexit lastly coming to roost.
Final month, Go to Britain unveiled a revised 2022 tourism forecast of £21.6 billion ($36.8 billion) in customer spend for the 12 months – round 76 per cent of 2019 ranges.
