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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey They have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent days. But could a ripple effect be felt in Britain’s already struggling tourism industry?
Those inside The monarchy You may be wondering how this crisis could affect your perception on the world stage and future tourism prospects.
Much has been said about allegations that Meghan was denied mental health treatment at the Palace after admitting she “just didn’t want to stay alive,” as well as how she believes her in-laws “didn’t protect her” and her son as the first people of color to enter the establishment.
The Queen has since issued a statement saying that the “troubling” issues raised in the interview regarding race will be “approached by family in private”.
Could tourists who had previously visited Britain now stay away? With the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and Brexit to consider, the answers are complex.
How the royal family contributes to tourism in Britain
The role the monarchy plays in bringing money to Britain through tourism varies depending on who you ask.
The UK tourist office VisitBritain says they contribute more than 580 million euros in tourism per year. This would mean that they contribute more money than they cost the country. VisitBritain also says that visits to royal landmarks like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle add up to 2.7 million visitors a year.
Despite this, some experts argue that it is difficult to identify when people visit Britain mainly due to interest in its monarchy. This is explained in The Conversation’s Factcheck on the topic, where senior tourism researcher Liz Shaples contrast the data with a more critical perspective.
“Republic, an anti-monarchy lobby group, challenges believes that the British monarchy is good for tourism and maintains that other attractions attract more visitors.
“In 2016, for example, the British Museum was the UK’s most visited attraction and, according to data from the Association of Top Visitor Attractions, more people visited Chester Zoo and Kew Gardens than Windsor Castle. “
Can Britain take the hit?
British tour operators believe the revelations made in the interview can be survived. “While the interview may dissuade some people from visiting the UK, the monarchy has survived so many crises, from civil war to abdication, it seems likely that they will rebound from any negative publicity.” He says Nikki Emms, British Tours Operations Manager.
Dr Bob Morris, director of the Constitution Unit at University College London, believes that the controversy could even provide short-term gains in visitors, especially with the additional consideration of recovery from COVID.
“Tourism could grow on the grounds that if people believe that the monarchy is in a state of imminent collapse, they could accelerate plans to visit while all the attributes of our monarchy remain in place.”
“Overall, however, it seems hard to believe that the removal of travel restrictions will not be much more important than any detectable effect from Megxit.”
Royal historian Dr. Ed Owens agrees, despite stating that Harry and Meghan were “a royal loss to the monarchy.”
“As long as the royal family is ‘open to the public’, that is, the royal palaces and castles remain open to visitors, I don’t see the footfall diminishing. The royal family and royal public events will continue to attract large numbers of tourists to the UK who want to learn more about the history and royal culture of Great Britain. “
Two much bigger problems for UK tourism are Covid and Brexit. I would be much more concerned about the negative impact that both will have on the tourism industry this summer. “
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