A Royal Wedding – A shot in the arm for the tourist industry?

The headline at the International Tourism Fair read “Tourism industry looks ahead after annus horribilis.” It would be a fair assumption that this caption was in reference to the year just gone. After all 2010 has been a terrible year for the tourist industry. First there was the volcanic ash cloud, which grounded flights across large parts of Europe, this was followed up by the BA strikes, the collapse of UK tour operator Goldtrail, the Euro tunnel fires and most recently the unscheduled strikes of the Spanish air traffic controllers and the tragic shark attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh. 

Sadly for the Tourist industry, the above heading was actually in reference to 2009, where the fears over recession and terrorism lead to a drop in global tourism of 5%. On the face of it that figure doesn’t seem a lot but when you actually look at the numbers it is just shy of 50 million fewer holidays than the year before.

The unprecedented global events of 2009 & 2010 has brought the tourist industry to its knees, which is a rather convenient place to be, for as 2011 approaches they must be praying for an up turn in their fortunes.

At first glance prospects in 2011 do not look much brighter for the UK tourist industry. New figures released this week show that unemployment is at a 16 year high and with the government cuts just starting to take effect it is likely that, in the short term at least, this figure will rise. The consequence of this is likely to be a further downfall in holiday makers as people look to save their money rather than spend in on luxuries such as sun, sand, sea and sangria!

This is why the announcement of William and Kate’s Royal wedding has been greeted with such joy by senior industry figures. Whilst the wedding itself is extremely important as it will bring thousands of tourists to London to witness the happy couples big day, it is the timing of the wedding that is most pleasing to the powers that be.

The extra day’s bank holiday, immediately following the Easter break, means that workers will only need to take 3 days off to enjoy the benefit of an11 day break. Even with tightened belts this is likely to be an opportunity to good to miss for many hard working Brits. A fact not missed by Sean Tipton, press officer of ABTA, who was quoted as saying that he was sure that their customers will take “full advantage of the extended break.”

It appears that William and Kate are already trying to look out for their loyal subjects; however, the cynic in me says that this will also be an opportunity for the industry to claw back some lost profits and so I urge readers to book their holidays early before prices start to rise!