British diplomats and expatriates will attend a party today in Taipei to celebrate and witness the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
A street party-style event, organized by the British Trade and Commerce Office (BTCO) in Taipei and the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (BCCT), will be held at the BTCO office to allow British expatriates in Taiwan to celebrate the event, BTCO Director David Campbell said
TRADITION
“It will be in street party style. Street parties are a great tradition in Britain and for a century have been linked to royal and other national events. All 50 seats are fully booked,” he said.
“There has been a lot of interest in the event, not just from British nationals, but from many other people who see this as a ‘good news’ royal story and wish the couple well,” Campbell said.
Local media are also taking a great interest in the wedding. Sanli TV, CtiTV, ETTV and Next TV have all sent journalists to London and will be broadcasting the wedding live from Westminster Abbey today, Campbell said.
VISITORS
“The additional visitors who come to London especially for the wedding could easily spend upwards of NT$2.5 billion [US$522 million]. However, the big opportunity is not about people coming for the wedding, but about the billions of people who watch it on TV and who might be encouraged to visit the UK as a result,” he said.
“This wedding, combined with other forthcoming major events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics next year, are expected to generate more than NT$100 billion over the next few years,” Campbell said.
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