Royal wedding: Canongate retailers hoping to cash in on the big attraction on their doorstep

Published on Thursday 28 July 2011 18:55

SHOPKEEPERS in the Canongate hope they will be able to reap the benefits of having the Royal Wedding on their doorstep.

Police estimate up to 2,000 people could fill the streets to try to catch a glimpse of Zara Phillips and rugby star Mike Tindall.

Retailers are hoping the crowds might do some shopping and pick up a souvenir of their day.

Alistair Mitchell, owner of the Fantastic Scotland clothing shop, below, said: "My overall impression is that the wedding will be a good thing for Edinburgh and the Canongate in particular.

"This area is very historic, but a lot of visitors who go to the top end of the Royal Mile never make it down here. Hopefully we'll be really busy tomorrow."

While Buckingham Palace has not revealed what time the actual wedding will take place, some shopkeepers believe that could work to their advantage.

Alan Murray, owner of Cadenhead's Whisky Shop, added: "It might be a bit of a bottleneck with the number of people who are around when the wedding is on, although nobody really knows how many people are going to turn up.

"There is lots of interest in the wedding and we think we might do quite well business wise on Saturday."

Julie Richard, manager of Canongate Jerseys and Crafts said: "We'll be opening as normal and we expect it to be pretty busy throughout the day.

"Anything that brings more visitors to the Canongate has to be a good thing - a lot of people don't realise there are so many shops down here at the moment.

"People will be looking for something to do if they are here for quite a while."

It is the second Royal Wedding of the year, and VisitScotland believes that has been a boost for the tourism industry. Since the marriage of William and Kate in April, royal castles, palaces, attractions and exhibitions across Scotland have been experiencing unprecedented interest.

Stephen Duncan, director of tourism for Historic Scotland, which operates Edinburgh Castle said: "We've had a very good start to the summer season with visitor numbers up at the castle."

Garry Marsden, visitor enterprise manager at Balmoral Castle, said: "We have seen a 10 per cent increase on visitor numbers from last year. Undoubtedly, the Royal Wedding has sparked interest around the world."

The Royal Yacht Britannia reported a rise of 28 per cent on the same time last year. Lynda Dalgleish, head of marketing, said: "With the city having been chosen to play host to the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall, we're finding visitors are more eager than ever to experience what life was like on board the Queen's former floating palace."