Volume: 1  Number: 2  Page: 133–141  doi:10.2167/jht013.0

Costs and Benefits: The Impact of Cathedral Tourism in England

Myra Shackley Centre for Tourism and Visitor Management, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4BU, UK

England has 42 Anglican cathedrals, many of which are major visitor attractions and which together welcome around 10 million visitors per year. Cathedrals generate substantial local economic benefits of some £150 million per annum within their urban economies and employ 1885 people on a full-time basis. Cathedral visitors spend approximately £30 a day on a visit to a cathedral city, but unfortunately very little of this revenue is received by the cathedral as donations. This short paper, which forms part of a larger research project examining different aspects of religious tourism, looks at the economic significance of English cathedrals within their urban contexts, arguing that the rising cost of conserving and maintaining the fabric of cathedrals is likely to result in increased need to raise revenue from visitors.

Keywords: cathedrals, religious tourism, sacred sites, economic impact

© 2006 M. Shackley

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