Count Elerach looked at the Crown Prince in surprise. "Your Highness, repairing those things... ahem, I mean the ruins, does not seem to serve much purpose."
"You know, the city of Bern has only a little over fifteen thousand people. I fear it would be very difficult to sustain such a large theater."
Bern's nobles and capitalists numbered fewer than two thousand at most, and even fewer among them would be willing to spend six Francs to watch a play. Every performance would certainly lose money.
As for the hot-spring baths, he did not even dare mention them.
In this day and age, people were already not much inclined to bathe because of religious influence. And Switzerland was full of hot springs everywhere. Even if someone wanted to soak in one, they could just find any spot out in the wilderness. Who would run to your "empire ruins" to waste money?
Joseph smiled. "Please rest assured. In the future, large numbers of tourists from France or the Italian Region will come to travel here. These ruins will bring Bern a considerable income."
What a joke. Once the "Roman Narrative" was set in motion, these ancient Roman-era buildings and facilities would become cultural landmarks.
By then, Joseph would personally go there a few times himself. He believed that "touring the empire ruins" would very soon become a new fashion among the nobles of every country.
Switzerland's scenery was extremely beautiful, and it also had fine food and skiing, making it very suitable for developing tourism.
With tourists from various countries pouring in, railways would become a rigid necessity. When the time came to start building railways, there would be no need to worry about investment at all.
"This is truly a great vision!"
Count Elerach offered a bit of flattery, then