Thousands of ride-or-die fans who on her U.S. concert tour last year or didn含羞草研究社檛 want to buy exorbitantly priced tickets to see her again found an out-of-the-way solution: Fly to Europe.
The pop star is scheduled to kick off the 18-city Europe leg of her in Paris on Thursday, and planeloads of Swifties plan to follow Miss Americana across the pond in the coming weeks. The arena where Swift is appearing said Americans bought 20% of the tickets for her four sold-out shows. Stockholm, the tour含羞草研究社檚 next stop, expects about 10,000 concertgoers from the U.S.
A concert might sound like an odd raison d含羞草研究社檈tre for visiting a foreign country, especially when fans can watch the Eras Tour from home via the on Disney+. Yet says continent-hopping by Swift含羞草研究社檚 devotees is part of a larger trend it dubbed 含羞草研究社渢our tourism含羞草研究社� while observing a pattern that emerged during Beyonc茅含羞草研究社檚 .
Some North American fans who plan to fly overseas for the Eras Tour said they justified the expense after noticing that tighter and resales in Europe made seeing Swift perform abroad no more costly 含羞草研究社� and potentially cheaper 含羞草研究社� than catching her .
含羞草研究社淭hey said, 含羞草研究社橶ait a minute, I can either spend $1,500 to go see my favorite artist in Miami, or I can take that $1,500 and buy a concert ticket, a round-trip plane ticket, and three nights in a hotel room,含羞草研究社� Melanie Fish, an Expedia spokesperson and travel expert, said.
That was the experience of Jennifer Warren, 43, who lives in St. Catharines, a city in the Niagara region of Ontario. She and her 11-year-old son love Swift but what she considered as decently priced tickets in the U.S. Undeterred, Warren and her husband decided to plan a European vacation around wherever she managed to get seats. It turned out to be Hamburg, Germany.
含羞草研究社淵ou get out, you get to see the world, and you get to see your favorite artist or performer at the same time, so there are a lot of wins to it,含羞草研究社� said Warren, who works as the director of research and innovation for a mutual insurance company.
The three VIP tickets she secured close to the stage 含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社淚 would call it brute-force dumb luck含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社� cost 600 euros ($646) each. Swift subsequently announced six November tour dates in Toronto, within driving distance of Warren含羞草研究社檚 home. 含羞草研究社淎bsolute nose-bleed seats含羞草研究社� already are going for 3,000 Canadian dollars ($2,194) on secondary resale sites like Viagogo, Warren said.
TOUR TOURISM: IS IT REALLY A THING?
Hard-core fans trailing their favorite singer or band on tour is not a new phenomenon. 含羞草研究社淕roupie含羞草研究社� emerged in the late 1960s as a somewhat derogatory word for the ardent followers of rock bands. Deadheads took to the road in the 1970s to pursue the Grateful Dead from city to city.
More recently, music festivals like California含羞草研究社檚 Coachella and England含羞草研究社檚 Glastonbury, and concert residencies in Las Vegas by the likes of Elton John, Lady Gaga and Adele, have attracted travelers to places they wouldn含羞草研究社檛 otherwise visit, Fish noted.
Travel and entertainment analysts have also spoken of a pent-up consumer demand for 含羞草研究社渆xperiences含羞草研究社� over material objects since the coronavirus pandemic. Some think the to broaden their fandom horizons is part of the same mass cultural correction.
含羞草研究社淚t does seem like it含羞草研究社檚 more than a structural shift, maybe a personality transformation we all went through,含羞草研究社� said Natalia Lechmanova, the chief Europe economist for the Mastercard Economics Institute.
As across Europe, Lechmanova expects restaurants and hotels to see the same boost that Mastercard observed within a 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) radius of concert venues in the U.S. cities she visited in 2023. The U.S. dollar含羞草研究社檚 strong value against the euro may also increase retail spending on apparel, memorabilia, beauty products and supplies for the friendship bracelets fans exchange as part of the Eras Tour experience, the economist said.
Former college roommates Lizzy Hale, 34, who lives in Los Angeles, and Mitch Goulding, 33, who lives in Austin, Texas, already had tickets to see the Eras Tour in L.A. last summer when they decided to try to get ones for Paris, London or Edinburgh, Scotland, too. They saw a Europe concert trip as a makeup for travel plans they had in May 2020 to celebrate Goulding含羞草研究社檚 birthday but had to cancel due to the pandemic.
Goulding managed to secure VIP tickets for one of Swift含羞草研究社檚 three Stockholm shows. He, Hale and two other friends scheduled a 10-day trip that also includes time in Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
含羞草研究社淎s people who enjoy traveling and enjoy music, if you can find an opportunity to combine the two, it含羞草研究社檚 really special,含羞草研究社� said Hale, who is pregnant with her first child.
FOR STOCKHOLM, 120,000 SWIFTIES CAN含羞草研究社橳 BE WRONG
The local economic impact of what the zeitgeist has termed 含羞草研究社淪wiftonomics含羞草研究社� and the 含羞草研究社淪wift lift含羞草研究社� . It含羞草研究社檚 no wonder the exclusive arrangement Singapore含羞草研究社檚 government made with Swift to make the city-state her only tour stop in Southeast Asia earlier this year aroused .
No European governments have complained of their countries not being among the dozen selected for the Europe leg of the Eras Tour, although some fans have expressed surprise that Gelsenkirchen, a city with a population of about 264,000 is one of the three cities in Germany that made the cut.
Airbnb reported Tuesday that searches on its platform for the U.K. cities where Swift is performing in June and August 含羞草研究社� Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London 含羞草研究社� increased an average of 337% when tickets went on sale last summer.
Not to be outdone when it comes to trend-spotting, cited the demand as an example of 含羞草研究社減assion tourism,含羞草研究社� or travel 含羞草研究社渄riven by concerts, sports and other cultural events.含羞草研究社�
, 120,000 out-of-towners from 130 countries 含羞草研究社� among them 10,000 from the U.S. 含羞草研究社� are expected to swarm Sweden含羞草研究社檚 capital this month, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Chief Economist Carl Bergqvist said. Stockholm is the only Scandinavian city on Swift含羞草研究社檚 tour, and airlines added extra flights from nearby Denmark, Finland and Norway to bring people to the May 17-19 shows, he said.
The city含羞草研究社檚 40,000 hotel rooms are sold out even though prices skyrocketed for the tour dates, Bergqvist said. Concert visitors are expected to pump around 500 million Swedish kroner, or over $46 million, into the local economy over the course of their stays, an estimate that does not include what they paid for Swift tickets or to get to Sweden, he said.
含羞草研究社淪o this is going to be huge for the tourism sector in Sweden and Stockholm in particular,含羞草研究社� Bergqvist said.
Nightclubs, restaurants and are seizing the opportunity to cater to fans with Taylor Swift-themed events, such as karaoke, quizzes and after-concert dance parties.
Houston resident Caroline Matlock, 29, saw Swift more than a year ago when the Eras Tour came to the Texas city. Now she含羞草研究社檚 making more friendship bracelets and trying to learn a few words of Swedish as she prepares to see the 3 1/2-hour show in Stockholm. The idea of seeing Swift in Europe was her friend含羞草研究社檚, and Matlock needed some persuading at first.
含羞草研究社淚 was like, 含羞草研究社業 only want to go if it含羞草研究社檚 a country I haven含羞草研究社檛 been to. I含羞草研究社檝e seen Taylor Swift,含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫 she said.
Visiting the Scandinavian cities of Oslo and Gothenburg is on their itinerary. The concert is the last night of the trip and Matlock looks forward to interacting with Swifties from other countries: 含羞草研究社淎mericans tend to have a very obsessive culture, especially Taylor Swift-related, so I含羞草研究社檓 curious if the crowd will be more toned-down.含羞草研究社�
WILL TOUR TOURISM ENDURE AFTER ERAS?
It remains to be seen if the music tourism trend has legs as long and strong as Swift含羞草研究社檚 and Beyonc茅含羞草研究社檚, and if it will carry over to Billie Eilish, Usher and other artists with world tours scheduled next year. Expedia含羞草研究社檚 Fish thinks other big-name artists in Europe this summer will prove that booking a foreign trip around a concert is catching on.
Kat Morga, a travel consultant based in Nashville, isn含羞草研究社檛 so sure. Morga saw Swift perform in Nashville last year and helped two clients with school-aged children book European family vacations this summer that include seeing Swift in concert. But she thinks the difficulty of navigating ticket purchases through language barriers, currency conversions, international banking regulations and the risk of cancellations will limit the appeal of regular gig getaways.
含羞草研究社淚 think this is an anomaly,含羞草研究社� Morga said. 含羞草研究社淧eople aren含羞草研究社檛 typically going to build their $20,000 huge family vacation only because Taylor Swift is there. She含羞草研究社檚 the one-off. She含羞草研究社檚 special.含羞草研究社�
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel, whose company operates Booking.com, priceline.com, agoda.com, Kayak and OpenTable, is even less enthusiastic about concert tours as a tourism instigator. The Swift Effect causes a 含羞草研究社渓ittle blip含羞草研究社� when the superstar goes to smaller destinations, but for the worldwide travel industry, 含羞草研究社渙ne star touring around does not make a difference,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淚t may just shift it a little bit. A person was going to go to the Caribbean for a week vacation. Instead that person (says), 含羞草研究社楲et含羞草研究社檚 travel to the Taylor Swift thing,含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫 Fogel said. 含羞草研究社淚t doesn含羞草研究社檛 increase it. It just moves it from here to there.含羞草研究社�
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