Meghan Markle’s new show may have received plenty of criticism, but new research shows the cooking series has given a much-needed boost to tourism in the local area. While not filmed at Meghan and Prince Harry’s own sprawling Montecito home, the show was instead filmed at another abode just down the road in the same neighbourhood – a place the couple have called home since quitting royal life in 2022. This has generated a huge swell of interest in the area, giving it an unexpected tourism boost.
Samuel Jefferies, Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Bókun, said that since the release of Meghan’s series, there have been 424,000 searches online in the past month for Montecito. As well as this, searches for ‘Montecito hotels’ have reported surged, with a 354 % increase in the past month.
Other searches potentially inspired by Meghan’s series include searches for ‘wellness retreat California’, which have risen by 29%.
While the Montecito area has gained new interest from the series, the show has also reportedly increased people’s interest when it comes to cooking, as reported by these new findings.
Samuel Jefferies at Bókun said: “We have seen a surge of interest in the activities Meghan takes part in in her new series, with searches for ‘family cooking classes’ surging by 31% and ‘beginners cooking classes’ by 25% in the past month alone, showing how this is likely to affect tourism with the rise in family-friendly culinary experiences.
“Homegrown foods are a central theme of the show, with Meghan championing the importance of simple, thoughtfully prepared meals made with care and fresh, local ingredients. In the first episode, Meghan is instructed on how to make honey through beekeeping, causing 198,000 people to search for ‘beekeeping’ in the past month, increasing by 22%.”
Since the release of season one of her show earlier this month, Netflix has confirmed that a second season will be released.
No date has yet been set on when fans can expect to see the next season on TV screens.