It’s difficult to overstate “the Taylor Swift effect,” a term that generally describes the powerful impact of the 33-year-old musician on consumer behavior.
Over the last decade, Taylor Swift has had a transformative effect on the music and entertainment industries. But the megastar, who is currently in the South American leg of her blockbuster Eras Tour – a multi-continent extravaganza that could end up as the highest-grossing tour of all time – is also drastically shaping the world of travel.
It’s difficult to overstate “the Taylor Swift effect,” a term that generally describes the powerful impact of the 33-year-old musician on consumer behavior, on an industry that in many ways is still recalibrating from the effects of the pandemic.
Hotels in cities visited by the tour are reporting breaking occupancy records, even at higher rates due to surging demand. Many are also incorporating unique Swift-centric promotions, events and activations to further entice fans. LATAM Airlines waived change fees for passengers following a recently postponed concert; Air New Zealand added 2,000 extra seats to its network around Swift’s shows (and cleverly named some flights NZ1989, a nod to her fifth studio album). And destinations where Swift performs reap such an enormous economic benefit that political leaders like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau practically beg for Swift to tour in their countries.
On a more personal level, Swifties – her famously loyal legions of fans – are traveling in new ways to new places for what many call a once-in-lifetime chance to see the performer live on stage.
“Quite simply, this is the biggest cultural event around which people are planning travel in a generation,” says Brittany Hodak, a Franklin, Tennessee-based customer experience expert and author of “Creating Superfans: How to Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates.”
“And, unlike a sporting event like the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics that’s concentrated in a few geographic locations, the Eras Tour is boosting travel and tourism across the globe. It’s no wonder we’ve seen world leaders openly campaign for tour stops within their countries.”
The tourism impact of Swift’s Eras Tour has been nothing short of staggering, with the economic boost generated in certain U.S. cities eclipsing the entire GDP of some small countries. Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insights), a Denver-based provider of data for the travel and hospitality industry, describes Eras as “a hospitality phenomenon” in a study it published in August.
One often-cited statistic is the whopping $5 billion that Swifties collectively spent across the United States in connection with the Eras Tour. However, the U.S. Travel Association says a more accurate figure is $10 billion or more in total economic impact.
In addition, STR, which provides data and analytics around the global hospitality industry, estimated that hotels pulled in $208 million in revenue following Swift’s U.S. shows over the summer, also noting that figure was “conservative” because it accounted only for Swift’s 53 concert nights, not extended fan stays and other factors.
Some destinations that have benefited from such a massive windfall are eagerly sharing the results. In Pittsburgh, Swift’s concerts on June 16 and 17 generated $46 million in direct spending, with 83% of attendees coming from outside the county, according to a news release from Visit Pittsburgh. The city’s hotel occupancy, meanwhile, averaged 95% — the highest since the pandemic and the second-highest weekend occupancy on record.
Not surprisingly, such outsized demand has also resulted in higher consumer prices. Aggregating data from 13 tour stops in North America, Lighthouse found an average bump of 7.7% for hotel room prices the month prior to Swift’s tour compared to the same month in the previous year, and prices were 7.2% higher during the month of the tour.
“The fact that a single music tour can significantly influence average pricing in major U.S. cities for an entire month underscores the magnitude of this tour and its far-reaching implications for the hotel industry,” the study states.
RateGain, a global provider of travel and hospitality data, also noted a “long-tail effect” on tour destinations as travelers create what it and others have coined “Swift-cations.”
“Her concerts have brought so much noise that in addition to her being the center of attention, the destination is becoming the center of attention,” Peter Strebel, president of RateGain’s Americas region, tells CNN Travel.
