Via: Smarta.com

The rumour mill has just confirmed that Will and Kate will tie the knot on April 29th in Westminster Abbey. But will the Royal Wedding really boost the UK economy? These business owners share their views.

Over 30 million overseas tourists visited Britain last year, bringing in revenue worth £16 billion to the UK economy. Latest research from VisitBritain shows that the British Monarchy pulls in a fair wedge of this custom – over £500m worth, in fact. Next year, with a wedding on the cards, this figure could leap to well over £620m.

But are these figures over-inflated? How much impact can a Royal Wedding really have on British businesses?

Well, there has already been one major winner in the Royal Wedding stakes. The Epiphany Platinum Clad Diamonique Oval Cluster Ring, a replica of the late Princess Diana’s ring, received an overnight sales increase of more than 800%. Home and internet shopping channel QVC priced their version of Kate’s engagement ring at £34.42 – a bargain for fans of the Royal couple. Sue Leeson from QVC said, “The huge demand for Kate’s replica ring shows that she is blossoming into a real trend setter. As the media intensity increases in the run up to the wedding, it will be interesting to see what impact she has on British style.”

Rottingdean based jewellers FSDS also jumped on the engagement ring bandwagon. They released a £99 version of Kate’s ring and sold two within 24 hours.

Indeed, fashion houses and designers will soon be lining up to dress the Royal bride and cash in on her kudos. But Kate’s influence extends beyond fashion. After the wedding, Will and Kate are moving to North Wales where the Prince is serving with the RAF. Property prices in the area are likely to sky-rocket, and tourist hotspots like the Dee Valley, the market town of Llangollen, the Snowdonia National Park and the medieval fortress Caernarfon Castle will see a sharp uplift in visitors.

“The Royal Wedding is set to deliver a welcome boost not just to the tourism industry in London but across Britain,” says VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe. “The couple studied at St Andrews and
spend time at Balmoral so that is a wonderful boost for Scotland. They will live in Wales which has fantastic scenery and awe-inspiring castles. And William and Kate are a modern couple. They go to nightclubs and they are outdoor people, which gives us the chance to talk about these activities to overseas visitors. Kate seems to shop on the high street which is very accessible. The wedding dress will give us a chance to highlight our designers while the wedding gifts will showcase our outstanding craftspeople, potters, glass and textiles. All of this helps us tell the story of contemporary Britain. It is the most wonderful publicity boost for the country.”

HomeAway.co.uk general manager Tim Boughton agrees that the impact of the Royal Wedding could be considerable. “We have been tracking the growing demand for rental properties around key
events,” he says. “In the run-up to the 2010 World Cup, booking enquiries to South Africa spiked by over 1,000% compared to the same period during in 2009. The average weekly income generated
per property during the event soared by almost 150 per cent, making this an extremely profitable period for private holiday home owners and property managers alike.

“We expect London home owners to experience similar trends around the time of the Royal Wedding and the Olympics,” continues Boughton. “We anticipate owners and managers listing on our site will be able to increase their rates by at least 100%, maybe even more, around the time of these two key events.”

Rochelle Peachey, founder of transatlantic dating site iloveyouraccent.com is also anticipating a boost. She is using the Royal wedding to encourage new sign-ups to the site. “When something like
this happens, people feel the need to get their act together and find a partner,” she says. “So we will use the wedding as promo for our service.”

But not everyone is sold on the benefits of the Royal Wedding. George Shaw, founder of Avocado Media says: “It’s nonsense! Propaganda put out by royalists and a good diversion from cuts in public spending. A lot of people might like to jump on the publicity bandwagon, but in reality other than a few importers of Chinese-made union jacks, bunting and commemoration mugs, there’s no evidence that previous royal weddings have done any long term good for the economy or to boost tourism.”

But Shaw has been overruled. Many businesses are expecting the Royal Wedding to make a positive impact on their bottom line. Cumbria-based bed manufacturer Sealy has even created a limited edition bed to celebrate the event. The Crown Jewel bed was launched earlier this month, promising “the sweetest of dreams. You will feel like you have been swept off to slumber by a handsome prince or beautiful princess and will most definitely sleep happily ever after!” It might sound like hyperbole, but at £799 a pop and predicted sales of well over 1,000 units, these gimmicky beds will have a hugely positive effect on Sealy’s 2010 turnover.

Smarta will leave you with another Royal-Wedding-inspired marketing ploy. This one’s from Drambuie – a cocktail no less. The wonderfully named ‘Engaging Dram’ was released to celebrate the announcement of Prince William’s engagement to Kate earlier this month. Jamie Stephenson, brand ambassador for Drambuie Liqueur and inventor of the Engaging Dram, says: “The Engaging Dram’s ingredients represent the Royal heritage, perfectly paired with modern, stylish flavours and
presented in an elegant and beautiful way – just like the couple themselves. You never know they may even serve it at the wedding – I’ll leave a message on the Queen’s Facebook wall and see what
she thinks of it.”

And here’s the recipe:

Engaging Dram

20ml Drambuie Royal Legacy 1745

5ml Lemon Juice

Dash Orange Bitters

100ml Rosé Champagne

Stir gently in a mixing glass and pour into a chilled flute. Garnish with a twist of orange

Via: CyberHood Watch

Sometimes, the Internet seems like walking through a mind field. Unfortunately, when you are consistently looking for the next nefarious misuse or some misguided individual whose moral compass is skewed, it is nice to see some sunshine in the digital forest.

The idea of half a billion individuals coming together to socialize on one platform, seems a pretty good indication that people are social and many are looking or wondering how to meet someone safely and develop a relationship. Online dating is white noise for me after years of marriage; however, for many it is how relationships occur. That is how a good friend of mine met his wife, online.

I remember thinking, when he first told me he had met someone online and was dating how strange that might be. That was at least eight years ago, today I guess it is not so different than calling someone on the phone to introduce yourself, as it was during my college days. However, these digital times are different, if you are looking for a relationship online; you do need to recognize what a legitimate dating site looks like, and how to spot a con man.

Rochelle Peachey is the owner of a dating site called, “I Love Your Accent”. Rochelle, is connecting Brits with Americans, and knows firsthand why so often dating sites receive a bad rap. Unfortunately, dating sits are notorious for con men for targeting lonely individuals. To add insult to injury not only are the lonely targeted but also the site owners.

For example, when Rochelle first began, she was approached online by an individual, complimenting her on the site. Which was more a ploy than compliments that eventually lead to asking, Rochelle, if she would be interested in buying Facebook profiles for her “I Love Your Accent” dating website? Anyone just starting out online understands the importance of building a community, maybe more so for an online dating site. These hijacked Facebook profiles were complete with personal information. Other than, the obvious, selling stolen Facebook profiles is wrong. Nonetheless, Rochelle points out some solid business reasoning why that kind of thinking would put them out of business before they got started.

Both Rochelle and her husband tried to bring this to the attention of the authorities, but no one seemed interested. At one point, they had the interest of Good Morning America who might air the story, but eventually backed out without an explanation.

Any law enforcement or agency interested to know of a site that sells stolen Facebook profiles, including the evidence that verifies you can buy stolen Facebook profiles complete with personal information, then contact The CyberHood Watch partners. We would like to stop this, and we will put you in touch with Rochelle.

The site in question reads: DON’T START YOUR DATING SITE WITH NO MEMBERS BUY THEM FROM ME…

Note: Dave & Bill had two interviews today. The first hour was with Krystle Nicole Russin and you can read about in the The CyberHood Watch community here. The second interview starts at the sixty minute time stamp.

Rochelle wants our readers of The CyberHood Watch, our listeners of CHWR to understand that there are good and bad dating sites, and you can tell the difference. It seems the number one red flag is when you are asked for money…Time to move on – dates over.

Here are a few other tips:

• Know whom you are speaking to – Skype – cam

• Know where you are going – If you decide to meet get an address and details where someone can find you.

• Both parties should be willing to give up information about each other – there has to be some trust – but do backgrounds searches.

Another good tip when considering a dating site is to invest financially a small fee – SCAMMERS WON’T PAY! There is value in paying for a good dating site.

This December, look for Rochelle’s SPEED DATING ACROSS THE POND.

Your CyberHood Watch Partner,

david c ballard

Radio Security Journalist

Geordie lass Cheryl Cole formerly of Girls Aloud is headed to the USA to star in Simons Cowell’s new show X Factor. Pretty girl for sure, prefers to mime rather than sing live and with a glossy mane and pearly whites she is bound to be a favourite with Americans …… until she opens her mouth. For Ms Cole’s Geordie accent will not be celebrated Stateside. Long story short, they wont understand her. Geordies are very fond of using the word Pet where Londoners will say Love.

Are you ok Love?

Ah yah ooh key Pet?

For those of you not familiar with Cheryl Cole and her words of wisdom on UK X Factor just check her out on Youtube.

I like her, she’s the nations sweetheart after all but not sure how many people will say

I Love Your Accent.

www.iloveyouraccent.com