What a joy it was to be in England last Friday morning – the roads were completely clear. Driving through North Yorkshire in the few minutes before 11 o’clock, it was almost like it was the middle of the night. No one was on the roads. Everybody, it seemed, was settling down to watch the royal wedding on television.
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It is as if many people wanted to enjoy the wedding but wouldn’t let themselves do so. This was summed up by the tweet from one republican, who admitted he was confused because he was enjoying the event far too much. It was almost as if the right thing to do in Scotland, the accepted thing, was not to enjoy it, not to revel in it, but to criticise it in some way. To attack the media coverage, the militarism, the jingoism – oh, and the cost. It is the sort of attitude which bubbles out in talk of “millions of pounds of your money” being spent on a lavish event for a privileged couple. Those who want to can deride the monarchy for many reasons, and they are perfectly entitled to do so. But if last Friday proved one thing, it was that the monarchy is a massive, massive moneyspinner for London in particular, but also for the UK as a whole – and that includes Scotland. With the murmurings and mutterings against the lavish event still spluttering around, it is perhaps worth considering a few statistics, just to get things in perspective. * The civil list which pays for the royal family costs £7.9 million a year. Yes, that is a lot of money. It would certainly employ a lot of nurses or teachers. But there is more to consider, too. * Early estimates suggest that 560,000 people travelled into London from around the UK for the wedding, with at least another 200,000 coming in from abroad. * Most visitors to London travel on to at least one other place, with Edinburgh being one of the most favoured destinations. * Of those who came to London, 37 per cent intended to only stay for the day. The rest intended to stay for at least one night. * While the majority of people opted for a budget hotel stay, one in five chose to spend between £100 and £149 on a room for the night. A further 20,000 people, however, spent upwards of £300 a night. Travellers made the most of their weekend, visiting bars, clubs and restaurants during their stay. * Ryanair carried 150,000 passengers through its three London airports from Wednesday to Friday, 10 per cent up on the same dates last year. * Initial estimates suggest an extra £50 million was generated by the tourist boom just last Friday, but experts expect it to kickstart a major UK-wide tourism bonanza that will last a decade. * It is thought Britain as a whole could enjoy revenues of more than £4 billion over the next ten years as a result first of the royal wedding and then the London Olympics (which many of those who don’t like the wedding also opposed). After the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005, researchers analysed 5,000 newspaper reports to find out if Scotland had benefited from positive coverage. Jack McConnell, the then first minister, predicted that the afterglow of that event would generate millions of pounds in revenue for Scotland. If that one event, which was derailed by terrorist bombs in London and demonstrators battling police outside, could generate a mini tourist boom for Scotland, then how much more will come from the royal wedding with its TV audience of two billion around the world? Like it not, Britain put on a show on 29 April which, in practical terms, will deliver a massive advantage for the country in tourism terms over the next few years. Scotland will not be left out, either. Why else would VisitScotland have already launched a direct marketing campaign based around royal-themed press trips which has already generated positive TV coverage in America, Canada and Australia? The twin themes of Royal Scotland and Scotland as a romantic getaway will be pushed hard, to bring in as much money as possible on the back of last Friday's wedding. You don’t have to like the royals, you don’t have to watch their weddings on the telly, you can grumble and complain about privilege and elitism – but before you have a pop at the monarchy for squandering taxpayers’ money, just consider the facts. If the royal family does nothing again, ever, it will have paid for itself a hundred times over just through that one event. And, at a time when all our industries, including our tourist industry, need something to revive them after several years of downturn, this should be welcomed and embraced.Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
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