CHINESE HONEYMOONERS SOUGHT

Along with last year’s royal wedding and the Diamond Jubilee earlier this year, the Olympics has helped Britain’s tourism industry gain a younger and more vibrant image.

Gradually, its past image of cultural heritage and tradition has changed to a more diverse one, allowing more celebration of love and fashion.

“Britain, which is never seen as a romantic destination, is now being presented as a honeymoon destination for the Chinese,” said Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications for VisitBritain, the UK government tourism promotion agency.

Yates said the image overseas tourists had of the UK changed rapidly over the past year, starting with the royal wedding. “The royals were young and in love. The fashion, all that sort of British creativity — it looked beautiful,” she said.

The royal wedding also brought Britain a great deal of international media coverage, equivalent to 3 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) worth of advertising, according to Yates.

She expects more people to come now that the Olympics are over because the Games attracted billions of viewers and extensive media coverage worldwide. “Tourism delivery will happen after the Games. People will want to experience the Britain they saw on the screen,” she said.

The tourism boost could last for five to 10 years, based on the experience of previous host cities, she said.