The American pop icon filled an empty space that the world never knew existed with her soulful music. Although her songs are poignant, Swift is also an economic force.
Her Eras tour, which launched last year in the wake of the global pandemic, has broken records Highest-grossing round in history. Every city it pitched in saw an increase in business, whether from 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 estimates Suggest.
The singer is now using her economic clout in Europe to weather this harsh summer, and experts believe the benefits may extend beyond the US leg of her tour.
What makes Europe different for SWIFT?
Swift plays more than 50 shows, including in the UK, Switzerland and Poland.
Although the timing and macroeconomic environments differ in each country compared to the United States, Europe as a whole has some general advantages.
“(Europe has) stronger public transportation networks than the United States, so it's easier to get to the place from a wider area. The impact is likely to be more widespread than just a two-and-a-half-mile radius,” said Natalia Leshmanova, chief European economist at the MasterCard Institute of Economics. . luck.
This means that people do not necessarily have to be close to the concert sites before attending, as they can bet on an efficient transportation system to take them where they want to go. It also helps that Swift's tour dates are interspersed during the summer when people are really looking forward to traveling.
If that wasn't reason enough, Swift is also set to do so Perform new tracks From a double album that she released last month in her upcoming shows. That bodes well for the pop star's American fans, many of whom flocked to Paris in larger numbers than flocked to the Olympics to see Swift perform. Others travel to different parts of Europe to catch a glimpse of their idol.
Caroline Babinski, 26, who lives in New York, is traveling to Zurich to attend one of Swift's concerts in July. She saw two Eras Tour shows in the US, but that didn't stop her from going to another show, this time it would be in Europe.
Booking in Zurich was much easier. “When I was trying to go to U.S. shows, I never actually got a presale,” Babinski said. luckShe added that the tickets were also much cheaper compared to the show she went to in Philadelphia.
Babinski said she spent nearly $1,500 on the trip to Zurich, where she will stay with and attend her sister.
“I think it's worth it,” she said. “The production of the show she does now is unparalleled.”
Kevin Mazur – TAS24/Getty Images/TAS Right Management
“So it will stay like this forever, or will it go down in flames?”
Leshmanova identified the strength of the US dollar and the increasing trend of people spending on it expertise Rather than material goods as other factors driving American Swifties to Europe.
Economies around the world have had a difficult few years adjusting to interest rates. It has taken a lot of work, but inflation is finally starting to slow in most major economies, even if it is not as low as central banks would like.
However, sudden demand for hotel rooms and food and beverage services leading up to large concerts can cause a transient increase in inflation. It happened in Sweden last July, during the “Beyoncé glimpse,” when core inflation slowed less than expected during the month of shows of the singer's Renaissance tour in Stockholm.
Could this be a cause for concern in Europe regarding Swift's Eras Tour? Lichmanova said it was unlikely.
“It could lead to a glitch on that day, but then it collapses. “So when it comes to impacting inflation trends in Europe, it's not something that's really worth paying attention to,” she added.
While Swift's concerts will fade as a moment in time, they will have a greater impact in small towns than in big cities, Nomura analysts wrote in a March note. The reason is that giant cities such as London and Paris are able to accommodate large numbers of additional visitors in a way that Liverpool, for example, cannot accommodate.
In the UK alone, Barclays estimates the economy will be boosted by £1 billion ($1.27 billion), with concert ticket holders spending 12 times what the average Brit spends on a night out. Swifties are fueling the craze by splurging on concert-themed movies and dressing up for the artist's different “eras.”
A more local impact could be seen in Ireland, where Swift has three concerts lined up for June, said George Moran, European economist at Nomura Bank. luck.
He warns that there is still a risk of overestimating the economic impact.
“American cities and their big stadium venues could be very different from the global cities that Taylor Swift will visit in 2024,” Moran said, adding that any impacts, as we saw from Beyoncé's photo in Sweden, are more sector dependent (such as in hospitality ) instead of having a noticeable impact at the macroeconomic level.
“If the impact is not evident in a small economy like Sweden, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on larger economies,” he said.
However, Europe has already rolled out the red carpet for Swift and her string of shows through August.
With fans swarming her in various venues, eagerly waiting to see her live, it seems like Swift is already owning the summer.