This is How Much the Royals Earned for British Tourism this Year

Photo Credit: Express

The royal family brought in £550 million a year for British tourism in the past year alone, according to a report from Brand Finance.

This is based on how much the British monarchy has benefitted UK travel financially, through increasing the number of people from abroad who travel to the UK and spend money here. 

The figure is up from £535 million in 2015, according to figures from the same organisation. 

It has grown consistently since 2010, when it was a still impressive £500 million, or half a billion pounds.

Tourists from Brazil, Russia and Malaysia are most likely to visit places linked to the Royals, according to one survey.

Foreign visitors will flock to Westminster Abbey, which saw the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, 

The large Gothic abbey church, which has been part of British history for almost 1,000 years, attracted 1.82 visitors in 2016.

They will also visit St Paul’s Cathedral, the site of the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, which attracted 1.52 million visitors in 2016.

The findings also take into account tourism profits from restaurants, hotels and retail stores that hold a Royal Warrant. 

A Royal Warrant is an accolade for organisations who have supplied goods or services for five years or more to the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh or the Prince of Wales. 

Hotels that have received a Royal Warrant include The Goring, based in Belgravia, London, and the Ritz, based in Piccadilly, London.

Fortnum & Mason, a luxury department store in Piccadilly famed for its selection of loose leaf tea and picnic hampers, is also a royal favourite.

David Haigh, chief executive of Brand Finance, said Britons would be surprised by the low cost per person of running the monarchy – on average 1p a day for each person in the UK.

“[The monarchy] may be a quirky, anomalous, slightly unfair organisation, but economically it is definitely a beneficial one.

“A significant proportion of these costs is in fact incurred by residence maintenance, staff salaries and travel expenditures required by any head of state.

“The monarchy is Britain’s national treasure, both symbolically and economically.”

Source: express.co.uk