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Singapore’s GDP has seen a year-on-year growth of 2.7 per cent for the first quarter of this year and Taylor Swift has a role to play. As she heads to Europe for her Eras Tour, the economy is seeing a boost. Swifties have travelled to concert cities, spending money on accommodations, dining, transportation, and merchandise to the tune of billions read more
 "From Singapore to Europe, how Taylor Swift shakes up economies")
Taylor Swift attends a premiere for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in Los Angeles, California, US, 11 October, 2023. File Image/Reuters
‘Swiftonomics’ is what the phenomenon has been termed. It refers to the financial impact that global recording artist Taylor Swift is having on the economies of numerous countries around the world, especially with her ongoing Eras Tour which has grossed a record-breaking $1 billion in 2023 alone. The tour is not set to conclude until early December this year!
The Eras Tour, which commenced last year in March following a global pandemic, has shattered records, becoming the highest-grossing tour in history. Each city she performed in experienced a business boost, whether in retail, food and beverage, or hotel room sales.
Swift’s influence is so significant that the Eras Tour generated $5 billion in consumer spending in the US within just six months, according to estimates by Nomura.
The singer is now leveraging her economic impact in Europe over the summer, and experts believe the benefits might surpass those of the US leg of her tour.
Between the tour’s extensive US leg and now the Europe leg, Swift performed in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Singapore.
Swift helps Singapore with its GDP
Singapore has reported a year-on-year growth of 2.7 per cent for the first quarter of this year, meeting forecasts due to a thriving tourism sector spurred by Taylor Swift’s concerts in the city-state.
In March, visitors flocked to Singapore for Swift’s performances, her only Southeast Asian stop on a global tour. In an April report, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) noted that for both Swift and Coldplay, “more than half the audience likely” came from overseas.
The MAS, Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, mentioned in the report that private-sector analysts estimated tourism receipts from the large-scale concerts ranged from 350 million to 450 million Singapore dollars ($260 million to $330 million). However, it warned that this boost might not be repeated soon.
Earlier this month, the Singapore tourism board raised its 2024 projection, forecasting 15 million to 16.5 million international visitor arrivals, with tourism receipts ranging from SG$27.5 billion to SG$29 billion. According to Nikkei Asia, this is an increase from the earlier estimate of 15 million to 16 million arrivals and SG$26 billion to SG$27.5 billion in tourism receipts.
Taylor Swift wasn’t the only superstar to visit. British rock band Coldplay performed in January, and English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran in February. These events have sparked regional debate over whether Singapore is monopolising big-name concerts .
Swift in Europe over this ‘cruel summer’
Taylor Swift is performing over 50 shows in Europe. While the timing and macroeconomic environments differ in each country compared to the US, Europe has some general advantages.
“[Europe has] stronger public transportation networks than the US, so it’s easier to get to the venue from a wider region. We think the impact is likely to be more spread out than just within that two-and-a-half mile radius,” Natalia Lechmanova, chief Europe economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, told Fortune.
This means attendees don’t necessarily need to be close to concert locations before attending, as they can rely on the efficient transport system. Additionally, Swift’s summer tour dates align with the travel season when people are already looking to travel.
According to United Airlines, demand for travel from the US to Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain, where Swift is performing, is up about 25 per cent compared to last year.
Some North American fans planning to fly overseas for the Eras Tour have justified the expense, noting that tighter restrictions on ticket fees and resales in Europe make seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly—and potentially cheaper —than seeing her closer to home, reported Fox5.
Bookings to other European cities where she is performing, including Edinburgh, and Dublin, are also surging, according to a United representative who spoke to CNN. United’s flights to Milan and Munich for Swift’s shows in July have seen the biggest increase in demand, with upwards of 45 per cent more passengers compared to last year.
Also Read: What is Tourflation? How Taylor Swift, Beyonce are pushing up inflation
More than 1 million Swifties are expected to attend Swift’s shows in the United Kingdom later this summer, with the typical fan projected to spend £642 ($810) on travel, accommodation, and other expenses, injecting a total of £755 million ($953 million) into the economy, according to a recent Barclays report.
A look at Swift’s impact on the US economy
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour launched in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when US household personal savings hit record highs and the tourism industry faced severe setbacks.
Fans eager to attend an Eras Tour concert rushed to Ticketmaster, which crashed in late 2022 due to the overwhelming demand, leading to widespread criticism from customers and politicians for its monopolistic practices, as per Vox.
Although Swift fans don’t represent the entire US population, they have demonstrated that consumers were willing to spend their pandemic savings on tourism and entertainment despite recession fears.
During the first leg of the US tour, Eras Tour attendees—averaging about 54,000 fans per concert—travelled to the host cities, spending on hotels, transportation, food, merchandise, and more, thereby revitalising local tourism. One study showed that the average spend for an Eras Tour attendee is $1,327.74.
After Swift’s three concerts in Chicago in June 2023, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and leading tourism officials announced that Illinois had broken its hotel revenue record, partly due to Swift’s visit.
Ahead of Swift’s six concerts in Los Angeles, a special report by the California Centre for Jobs & the Economy estimated the tour would boost the Los Angeles County GDP by $320 million. The Centre also projected that the tour would increase employment in the area by 3,300 and raise local earnings by $160 million.
Estimates for Swift’s concerts in Denver, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, predicted that the Eras Tour would contribute $140 million to Colorado’s GDP and generate $92 million in local spending in Cincinnati.
Also Read: How Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour could fuel a ticket scam in the UK
The Kansas City region saw an estimated $48 million from Swift’s Missouri stop, reported KMBC.
In its June 2023 Beige Book, the Federal Reserve highlighted Swift’s impact, noting that “May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the onset of the pandemic, in large part due to an influx of guests for the Taylor Swift concerts in the city.”
The economic impact of a Swift concert on a host city is comparable to that of hosting a Super Bowl.
Overall, one analysis estimated the Eras Tour could generate $5 billion for the US economy. The US Travel Association suggested this figure might be closer to $10 billion when including indirect consumer spending related to the events.
And the Eras Tour is still not done with the US, as Swift added nine concerts at three separate locations in October and November this year.
Swift’s global influence
Swift’s February 2024 visit to Tokyo was expected to inject $228 million into the Japanese economy, with $162.7 million going directly to the host city, according to report by EconomicImpact.
According to Mexico City’s Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism, her August 2023 visit to Mexico was projected to generate over $59 million.
Additionally, hotels in Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Cardiff were sold out in August 2023 for the 2024 UK leg of the tour, reported The Guardian.
Taylor Swift’s impact extends beyond the cities she visits. Despite no planned Eras Tour concerts in New Zealand. In a press release, Air New Zealand announced it would add more than 2,000 seats, including new flights, to accommodate the “Swift surge” in demand after Swift announced her Australia tour dates in February 2024.
Hosting the Eras Tour has proven so beneficial for local economies that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Swift via X to add tour stops in Canada, which she did.
It’s me, hi. I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 6, 2023The gargantuan fan base of Taylor Swift is continuing to prove itself as the Eras Tour, which currently comprises 152 shows, travels across five continents. With the rest of the year to go, the tour of the most streamed artist on Spotify, is expected to continue breaking records.
Also Read: They are calling it funflation. How Barbenheimer, Beyonce boosted the US economy
Anmol is a Senior Sub-Editor with Firstpost. He likes to cover stories that amuse him, generally revolving around international polity, Indian foreign policy, human interest, environment and even the politically-charged election cycles in India. He has far too many disparate interests with a constant itch for travel. Having visited fourteen states in the Indian subcontinent, he is always on the lookout for opportunities to add more to the list. He enjoys watching Football, Tennis and F1 purely as a sports enthusiast. see more
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English (US) ·