A new study examining how much money Nessie-related tourism contributes to the Scottish economy credited the creature with a rather whopping figure. The research was reportedly conducted by Gary Campbell, who is not only the director of the Official Loch Ness Monster Registry, but also just to happens to be an accountant. Those two characteristics probably make him the ideal candidate to conduct such a study, since he's acutely aware of the various revenue streams which may be impacted by Nessie tourism.
Throughout the summer, Campbell acquired information from a vast array of businesses operating on and around Loch Ness under the promise of confidentiality. Among the factors which informed his final figure were the number of visitors to the loch each year, many of those people take part in cruises to look for the creature, and reports from hotels as well as restaurants in the area. In addition to those areas of income, he also considered "day trippers" who make only brief stops at the Loch rather than staying overnight.
All told, Campbell concluded that the Loch Ness Monster contributes a sizeable 40.7 million pounds to the local economy, which translates to roughly 53 million American dollars. More on this story, including how the number compares to UFO-related tourism in Roswell at the Coast to Coast AM website.