Last week's brief kerfuffle about Prince Philip's retirement from public life got us wondering about the best places to see the British royals. It also saw a brief resurgence of the idea that the monarchy should be maintained because the royal family is good for British tourism.
That's nonsense. There's no reason to imagine that the royals are helping British tourism.
The two countries hosting the most visitors and making the most money out of tourism each year are France (84.7 million visitors and $96 billion) and the US (69.7 million visitors and $414b).
The French and the Americans both ditched royalty years ago and today visiting the sites where their revolutions took place remains a big drawcard.
By all means, keep your monarchy, but don't imagine it's helping your tourism industry.
