Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton may be just what British economy needs

A royal wedding may be just what the moribund British economy needs.

Not that they did for that reason, but the engagement today of Prince William and Kate Middleton has retailers, hotels and tourism officials excited over what they believe could be their best showing since Prince Charles married Di almost three decades ago, The Globe and Mail says in a recent article.

"They're a very popular couple," Stephen Church, managing director of The UK Gift Co., which sells china and other souvenirs, told Sky News today after the wedding plans for next year were announced.

"Every time a royal wedding comes around there's an element of scepticism, but just wait and see what happens as the day comes closer. There'll be street parties and great excitement. I think we'll sell easily as many royal wedding gifts as we did for Charles and Diana in the 1980s."

Sensing a wedding in the works, souvenir companies had already put in tentative orders, and products should be available for the holiday season. Woolworths, for example, even drew up designs for plates in 2007.

Mr. Church expects sales to rise by up to 40 per cent, he told the BBC, which also cited tourism research showing the royal family already accounts for some £500-million in tourist money a year, even without a wedding.

Along with souvenirs, restaurants and hotels can also count on an influx.

"This is very, very good news for tourism in England, James Beresford, the chief executive of VisitEngland, told AOL, citing attractions associated with the royal family as "big business."

There's also the so-called feel-good factors, which some say gets people out and spending.

"Extraneous events can increase feelings of economic and other wellbeing," Professor Stephen Lea of Exeter University told the BBC.