The American pop icon filled an empty space with her soulful music that the world didn’t even know existed. And while her songs are impressive, Swift is also a remarkable economic achievement.
Her Eras Tour, launched last year in the wake of the global pandemic, broke records. most profitable tour in history. Every city she spoke in saw an increase in business, whether it was retail, food and beverage, or hotel room sales.
Swift’s influence is so profound that the Eras Tour generated $5 billion in US consumer spending in just six months. Nomura’s estimates suggest.
The singer is now using her economic clout in Europe ahead of this brutal summer, and experts believe the benefits could outpace the American leg of her tour.
What makes Europe different for Swift?
Swift gives more than 50 concerts, including in the UK, Switzerland and Poland.
Although the timing and macroeconomic conditions of each country differ compared to the United States, Europe as a whole has some common advantages.
“[Europe has] stronger public transport network than the US, making the venue easier to reach from a wider region. So we think the impact is likely to be more widespread than within a two and a half mile radius,” said Natalya Lekhmanova, chief economist for Europe at the Mastercard Economics Institute. Luck.
This means that people don’t have to be near a concert venue before attending it, as they can rely on an efficient transportation system to get them where they need to go. It also helps that Swift’s tour dates fall in the summer, when people are already planning to travel.
If that’s not enough, Swift is also configured to perform new tracks from the double album she released last month at her upcoming concerts. That bodes well for the pop star’s American fans, many of whom flocked to Paris in larger numbers than the Olympics to watch Swift perform. Others travel to different parts of Europe to catch a glimpse of their idol.
Caroline Babinski, a 26-year-old from New York, is flying to Zurich to attend one of Swift’s concerts in July. She attended two Eras Tour dates in the States, but that didn’t stop her from going to another one – but this time it will be in Europe.
“It was much easier to book tickets in Zurich. When I tried to go to shows in the US, I never got pre-sales,” Babinski said. Luckadding that the tickets were also much cheaper compared to the show she went to in Philadelphia.
Babinski said she spent about $1,500 on a trip to Zurich, where she will stay and attend a Swift concert with her sister.
“I think it’s worth it,” she said. “The production of the show she’s doing now is simply second to none.”
Kevin Mazur – TAS24/Getty Images/TAS Rights Management
“So will it last forever, or will it burn?”
Lekhmanova noted the strong US dollar and the growing trend towards increased household spending on experience and not material benefits, like other factors that motivate American swifts to Europe.
Economies around the world have endured several difficult years as they struggle to cope with interest rates. It took a lot of work, but inflation is finally starting to cool in most major economies, even if it is not as low as their central banks would like.
However, the sudden demand for hotel rooms and food and drink ahead of major concerts could briefly contribute to inflation. This happened in Sweden last July during the Beyoncé Surge, when core inflation slowed less than expected during the singer’s month-long Renaissance tour in Stockholm.
Could this be a cause for concern in Europe regarding Swift’s Eras Tour? Unlikely, Lekhmanova said.
“It might go wrong on this day, but then it will all go away. So when it comes to [the] impact on inflation trends in Europe is not something to be excited about,” she said.
While Swift’s concerts will be a blink of an eye, they will have a greater impact in smaller cities than in larger ones, Nomura analysts wrote in a March note. The reason is that giants such as London and Paris can accommodate a large number of additional visitors, which, for example, Liverpool cannot do.
In the UK alone, Barclays estimates the economic boost to be £1 billion ($1.27 billion), with concert ticket holders spending 12 times more than the average Briton spends on a party. Swifties fuel the mania by spending money on concert-themed films and dressing according to different “eras” of the artist.
A more local impact can also be seen in Ireland, where Swift has three concerts scheduled in June, said George Moran, European economist at Nomura. Luck.
However, he warns that there is a risk of overestimating the economic impact.
“U.S. cities and their hosting of large stadiums could be very different from the international cities Taylor Swift will visit in 2024,” Moran said, adding that any effects, as seen with Beyoncé’s event in Sweden, are more sector-based (for example, in the hospitality industry) rather than having a significant impact at the macroeconomic level.
“If the effect was not noticeable in a small economy like Sweden, it is unlikely that it will have a significant impact on larger economies,” he said.
Either way, Europe has already rolled out the red carpet for Swift and her performances through August.
With fans flocking to various venues and waiting with bated breath to see her live, it looks like the summer already belongs to Swift.