Royalty as a determinant of inbound tourism in the UK

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of the royal family to attract foreign tourists to the UK by examining three possible explanations: the royal persona, the urge to visit royal landmarks, and the desire to witness royal events. Design/methodology/approach The study applies the unobserved components model (UCM) methodology of Harvey (1985, 1989), estimated with time-varying parameters (TVP), to decompose inbound tourism data (1995–2022) into trend, cycle, and explanatory components. The model formally tests the impact of ten major royal events using dummy variables, controlling for world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (income) and the real effective exchange rate (REER) (price). Findings The findings of the study suggest that foreign tourists have more preference for landmarks, venues, and activities that are not related to royalty. The formal empirical evidence suggests that royal events make an insignificant contribution to inbound tourism, and that, like any normal good, inbound tourism can be adequately determined by price (real exchange rate) and income (world GDP). Originality/value This study provides new insights into the impact of the royal family on foreign tourist arrivals in the UK by examining the revealed preferences of foreign tourists and the contribution of royal events to inbound tourism. It also suggests that there are numerous reasons for visiting the UK that have nothing to do with the royal family.