Foreign tourists most likely to visit the UK during next year’s royal wedding are visitors from Russia, Brazil, Malaysia and the Czech Republic, according to research on the appeal of the Royal Family to other nations.
A poll commissioned by VisitBritain from the Anholt-GMI Nations Brand Index Survey found that the BRIC nations are amongst the keenest to visit British places connected to the Royal Family.
According to VisitBritain, the number of tourists from emerging nations was set to take off anyway. The announcement of Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton – which is thought to present a huge opportunity for hospitality outlets in general – will also accelerate the trend of foreign visits.
The poll of 25,000 potential foreign visitors asked people how likely they were to visit places associated with the Royal Family, with the aim of assessing the power of the Monarchy in drawing visitors to this country.
The results show that the nations who were keenest on the idea were Russia, where 83 per cent of respondents said they would go to Royal sites, followed by Brazil on 79 per cent, Malaysia on 76 per cent and the Czech Republic on 75 per cent.
They were followed by Poland (74 per cent), Mexico (73 per cent), South Africa (72 per cent), India (71 per cent), China (71 per cent) and Singapore (70 per cent).
In contrast, only 57 per cent of the USA sample said they were keen to visit royal sites, although VisitBritain suggests the figure could be lower because Americans are more regular visitors to the UK and they have moved on to other attractions.
The Queen beats Fish & Chips
When choosing between 15 postcards that would represent their stay in this country, Queen Elizabeth II was the third most popular choice, coming behind a red double decker bus and a stone castle by the sea, but beating fish & chips and draught beer.
VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said the research “shows that people from some of the fastest growing economies in the world are amongst the most enthusiastic about visiting Britain, and the sites associated with the Royal Family.
“The announcement of a Royal Wedding in 2011 has already generated a huge amount of publicity worldwide. This can only enhance the promising indications we have received that tourism to Britain from the BRIC countries and others is about to take off.”
In separate research published earlier this year by VisitBritain, data showed that tourism from the ‘big four’ or ‘BRIC’ nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – was predicted to rise.
This trend will be led by visitors from China, who are expected to increase by 89 per cent, bringing just under an extra 100,000 travellers to the UK by 2014. Tourism from India is forecast to grow by 29 per cent, with over 100,000 extra visits. Visitors from Russia are expected to jump by 24 per cent, with 50,000 more visitors.