You heard right – according to a survey by UK bank Barclays, UK TV dramas are good news for the economy because they're encouraging tourism.
The bank surveyed 100,000 tourists and found that more than 22% of them said the success of international TV shows like The Crown and Downton Abbey made them more attracted to the UK as a place to go on holiday.
The Crown, Downton Abbey and er… Midsomer Murders. One Swedish tourist told the BBC the reason she was so keen to come to the UK was she loved the long-running TV crime drama so much. Big budget Netflix mega-show it ain’t, but each to their own.
UK TV is apparently particularly popular with Chinese and US tourists. 44% of Chinese tourists said that their love for local TV programmes was a main reason for coming to the UK. More than a quarter of US travelers said the same.
Overall, more than 63% of people surveyed said they’re more interested in coming to the UK than they used to be.
OK, it's not all about TV
It’s currently a lot cheaper to come to the UK as a tourist than it used to be. The pound is a lot ‘weaker’, or is worth less than it was compared to other countries, because no ones sure what’s going to happen to the UK economy with the whole Brexit thing (yawn). 31% of the tourists Barclays surveyed said the weaker pound was making them consider the UK more.
More people coming to the UK as tourists means more people spending money in shops, restaurants, bars, open top bus tours, you name it. More money being spent is really good news for the people who work in those industries.
So this can only mean one thing. More telly please!
