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As much as many tourist attractions are fascinating cultural and historical artefacts, many are also shameless money making machines. And some rake in much more than others, with the most lucrative generating hundreds of millions of pounds every year.
A new study by luggage storage firm Bounce has revealed which landmarks around the world are expected to generate the highest amount of revenue, based on stuff like ticket prices and visitor numbers. And, interestingly, one London attraction featured in the top ten.
Bounce named the London Eye as the eighth-highest-earning tourist attraction in the world. Rounding up the price to £26 and quoting 3.5 million visitors, the study reckons the Eye will bring in about £91 million this year.
Is it a coincidence that the Eye was also recently named one of the most overpriced attractions in the world? Probably not. But it was still way off top spot, the Burj Khalifa, which Bounce says will take £595 million in revenue this year.
The Eye wasn’t the only London attraction to feature in the ranking. Bounce also named the Tower of London as the 14th-highest-earning attraction on the planet, saying that its £34 price tag and two-million-plus annual visitors will likely bring in £68.7 million. It’s worth noting, however, that the standard Tower of London ticket actually starts from £25.40.
Squiffy ticket price aside, it’s worth taking Bounce’s study with a pinch of salt. It does, after all, only work with estimates and projected revenue, rather than official figures. In any case, you can read the study for yourself here.
In the market for less expensive options for exploring London? Say no more. Time Out has searched high and low for all the ways of doing this city on the cheap, from the finest wallet-friendly eats and stuff to do for a fiver to the best totally free things to do.
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