When Taylor Swift puts on a show, not only Swifties are cheering. Hotel revenues per available room can more than quadruple when the blockbuster Eras Tour stops in a city, analysts from CreditSights found. This year in Nashville (which Swift considers her hometown), revenue per room doubled during the three nights when Swift was in town versus the same time the previous year when there was no tour.
This “TSwift Lift,” as CreditSights dubbed the Eras-induced stimulus, isn’t exclusive to hotels. In Chicago, the pop star’s three-night stay (from June 2-4) revved up transit revenue, pushing the Chicago Transit Authority to its highest post-pandemic ridership. During her short stay, Swift generated over 43,000 extra bus and rail rides. Chicago hoteliers also reaped the TSwift Lift, as the first two days of the singer’s shows resulted in record hotel bookings for the city, an average of 44,383 per night.
Swift’s two shows next weekend in Cincinnati for over 130,000 fans are predicted to generate over $48 million for the city and create or support close to 1,000 jobs. Why is the Eras Tour so wildly popular and profitable? In addition to Swift being among the most important and influential artists of her generation, her latest tour is a journey through her entire musical career, which began when she was just 15, and so draws fans across generations. Each show is a 10-act tour de force that lasts between three to four hours.
Three and a half million people registered for Ticketmaster’s ticket presale program for the tour’s U.S. leg, though the presale almost immediately crashed the website. Journalists have covered the tour as a massive cultural as well as economic event.
The tour tickets sold out so quickly and demand to attend so high that huge crowds have been informally camping outside stadiums to sing along to the music that wafts outside of the venue and into the parking lot. Videos of the makeshift concerts have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online, including a TikTok showing reportedly 20,000 Swifties in a parking lot outside Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
Swift’s die-hard fandom is helping her make $11 million to $12 million in ticket sales per concert, and fans spend an average of over $1,300 to attend an Eras show, including tickets, clothing, and travel.
Research company QuestionPro estimates that the superstar could add a staggering $4.6 billion in consumer spending to the U.S. economy as she supercharges business at each of the 47 stops on her tour.
Swift is predicted to earn half a billion dollars from the tour.
The worldwide Eras Tour will conclude in London in August 2024.
Rachel Shin
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