The royal wedding next week makes the trip more enticing for those wishing to witness romantic pageantry.
More than 4,000 street parties are planned for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 in London, and massive crowds outside of Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace would witness the grand ceremony.
People are all set in planning their travel as the long holiday season is all set to start from Easter Sunday, April 24.
Talking to reporters, Angela, one of the visitors said,” This weekend we seeing family and going to have barbeque on Sunday. Saturday night we all are going out with friends for meals to celebrate my birthday and then the Royal wedding. I should be sitting and watching it on Television.”
Tourism industry predict that an extra 600,000 tourists from home and abroad will flock to London to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, pushing the total number of visitors to 1.1 million.
Sean Tipton, one of the Senior Press Officer, Association of British Travel Agents said, “Well this is the first time in British history that we had two long bank holidays following each other. It does not normally happen. So Easter is a very busy time of the year and about two million people have headed off over this weekend to go abroad. But with Royal wedding coming very short after that, we expect another million and half people to head off. And obviously high percentage of those will not be in the country when the royal wedding goes around.”
Sean Tipton is hopeful that this year will be good in terms of business.
“Well in terms of people coming to London especially for wedding, people will stay in hotels not just in London, but also in outskirts. It will generate hundred million pond extra revenue from people coming from all over the world to stay in London and also from rest of the UK. It is really substantial place of business; also for British tour operators selling foreign holidays. You would not normally expect three and a half million people going abroad this time of the year. It is true and that’s been very substantial for business this year” said Sean Tipton.
According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), roughly two million British holiday makers are set to head off overseas around the Easter break.
The annual survey shows that over the coming fortnight, which includes the Easter holiday, the Royal wedding and 1st May bank holiday, over a quarter Britons and people living on the outskirts are planning trips at various places.