London bookings soar for Royal Wedding

Flight bookings to London have gone up by 266 percent around the time of UK’s Royal Wedding in April this year, according to one of the leading travel search sites Expedia.

Expedia said in a statement that bookings from the US are three times more than that from Britain, where people are looking forward to get away on the long break during the wedding of Prince William with his fiancee Kate Middleton scheduled on April 29, 2011 at London's Westminster Abbey, the 1,000-year-old church where the funeral for his mother Princess Diana was held.

Expedia, which has dedicated a travel page to Royal Wedding bookings, said the bookings from Britain to get away from UK around the event has also gone up by 80 percent, as many also desire to utilize the holidays.

Last month, UK’s leading travel search site Skyscanner had also revealed a surge in searches for flights to London from various European countries as well as the United States after the royal couple announced their engagement in November 2010, with the highest increase in searches by 605 percent from the United States. The least search activity was from France, known for its anti-royal stance.

The royal event is expected to boost UK tourism, which declined in 2010. Travel industry experts predicted that London is going to be in international tourism spotlight due to the 2011 Royal Wedding followed by the 2012 London Olympics as well as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in the same year.