27 October 2023
When the coronavirus pandemic first hit in March 2020, the entire world was put on pause. Streets were empty, schools and workplaces went virtual, and concerts and festivals were canceled. Within the past few years, the world started opening up, and people began to go back to their “normal” lives again. Many businesses and industries, however, struggled to stay open, with several closing due to the lasting financial burden of the pandemic. The tourism industry in particular was significantly impacted by the pandemic as the demand for flights and hotels within the U.S. plummeted. Tourism fell by more than 65% globally within the first half of 2020. For comparison, it only fell by 8% during the global financial crisis of 2008 and by 17% during the SARS epidemic of 2003 (1). The entertainment industries also caught some heat as concert and sports venues, movie theaters, and museums were closed off from the world. For example, one 2021 article in a University of Southern California news publication predicted that streaming would increase in the years after COVID. More studios would simultaneously launch films in theaters and streaming services or solely on streaming services (2). AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema operator, lost $561 million in a single quarter following the onset of the pandemic (3). However, in 2023, many big U.S. cities, such as Chicago and Philadelphia, reported strong economic growth over the past few months. Additionally, local businesses across the country have seen increases in their revenue, and AMC recently broke a company record in ticket sales. So what happened? The answer: Taylor Swift.
It is without a doubt that singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is one of the biggest artists on the planet right now. Her once-in-a-generation Eras Tour is set to be one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. Swift is projected to gross about $2.2 billion from North American ticket sales alone. This total represents the 53 shows in her first U.S. leg plus the estimated sales of her second North American leg, which will occur next year. Her sales are set to increase as she continues to embark on her international tour this fall. If Swift keeps it up, she will soon have the highest-grossing tour in music history, surpassing Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which grossed $887 million from 2018 to 2023 (4). Moreover, the Eras Tour is projected to generate about $5 billion in U.S. consumer spending, more than the gross domestic product of 50 countries (5). Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift is at the top of the music industry right now. Further, her tour has also helped to revive the tourism and entertainment industries in the country.
Avid concertgoers understand that the concert experience includes more than just the ticket. Food, transportation, and sometimes hotels also need to be taken into consideration. Every $100 spent on live performances generates, on average, $300 in local spending (5). However, according to a QuestionPro survey completed by 592 fans, the average Swiftie spent an estimated $1,300 on their Eras Tour experience. This figure means that, on average, each fan spent about $400 on tickets, $106 on food and drink, $160 on merchandise, $234 on outfits, and $384 on travel and lodging. Overall, Swift’s fans cumulatively spent about $93 million per show (6). Her impact is so great that some cities on her tour experienced supply shortages of costume materials like craft beads and sequins. For example, in her song “You’re On Your Own Kid” off her most recent album, Midnights, Swift sings, “…make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” (7). Tens of thousands of fans took this line literally and spent an extensive amount of time and money making bracelets with various lyrics and inside jokes to trade with fellow Swifties at shows. As a result, some businesses reported shortages in beads (8). For example, one bead store in Seattle, Bead World, scrambled to reorder merchandise as fans bought beads in bulk to prepare for Swift’s July show in the city. The manager, Camille, stated that the store had its highest sales that month in its 34-year history (9).
Cities on the tour have seen boosts in their economies. According to hotel analytics group STR, the tour’s stops produced a $208 million increase in hotel room revenue, surpassing normal seasonal levels. For reference, $208 million is equivalent to the combined hotel room revenue in New York City and Philadelphia in a single week. To clarify, that figure does not include fans who arrived earlier or stayed longer than the actual dates of the tour (10). Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker credits Swift’s three consecutive soldout Chicago shows for helping to break the state’s hotel revenue record and reviving its tourism industry. In 2019, the pre-pandemic record was $296 million. By the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Illinois’s hotel revenue reached $309 million. “Our tourism industry is back and it’s booming,” said Pritzker at a Chicago news conference (11). Following Swift’s tour stop in Philadelphia in May, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia wrote in their Beige Book chapter that “…May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the onset of the pandemic, in large part due to an influx of guests for the Taylor Swift concerts in the city” (12). Additionally, the California Center for Jobs and the Economy predicted a boost of $320 million to Los Angeles County after Swift performed six shows there. Kansas City and the state of Colorado also saw economic boosts of $48 million and $140 million, respectively (13).
The Eras Tour has also promoted businesses that may have suffered during the height of the pandemic. For example, Taste of Belgium, a Cincinnati-based restaurant, served Lavender Haze cocktails as a nod to Swift’s 2022 song of the same name. The company had its best two days of sales since it first opened seven years ago. A similar boost happened with Glam Doll Donuts in Minneapolis when they debuted their Taylor-Swift-themed donuts. The treats came in a box of a dozen, containing ten donuts with the name of each of Swift’s albums, one with her signature, and one with her face drawn in chocolate. Each box cost a grand total of $63. The bakery sold 150 boxes, and only stopped taking orders because they got overwhelmed with the demand. In Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum opened a pop-up exhibit to pay homage to Swift’s 17-year-long career. The exhibit aired just in time for the Eras show in Nashville in May, which became the museum’s best month in its 65-year history (14).
Even after the first leg of her North American tour concluded, Swift had another trick up her sleeve. In late August, the singer announced her upcoming concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which was set to release on October 13, 2023. The film generated $37 million on the first day of pre-sales at AMC, Regal, and Cinemark theaters (15). And according to AMC, global pre-sales exceeded $100 million, breaking the company’s record for the highest ticket sales revenue in a single day. Swift encouraged fans to dance, sing, and dress up, offering a second-hand experience for those who could not attend the tour or wanted to relive that experience. Currently, adult tickets are selling for $19.89, a nod to her birth year and the iconic 2014 pop album. This price is higher than the average movie ticket, which was $11 in 2022, but Swifties have been flocking to the theaters to see the film nonetheless (16). Swift has directly made a deal with AMC in which 57% of ticket sales are split between herself and the company, while the remaining 43% will go towards theaters (17). The movie theater business had already been struggling financially in recent years with the rise of the coronavirus pandemic and the writer’s strikes in Hollywood. However, the success of “The Eras Tour” has provided a much-needed boost for the industry (18).
The influence of the Eras Tour goes far beyond Taylor Swift’s music and personal success. These shows have also had an immense impact on the financial successes of local economies and the national economy. The coronavirus pandemic put a damper on industries and small businesses across the country. But the Eras Tour has brought the tourism and entertainment industries back to their former glory and allowed local businesses the opportunity to promote themselves and gain sales. Taylor Swift has made herself an economic phenomenon in the U.S. Who knows what she will accomplish after her international leg? Well, Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College, may have a good guess. Initially, Cohan believed that the Eras Tour would generate $500 million to $1.5 billion in revenue after expenses. But with the addition of 94 tour dates, Cohan predicts that Swift’s ticket revenue will reach $5.1 billion and that her merchandise revenue will reach $2.27 billion. Based on the assumption that she keeps roughly 80% of tour revenue after expenses, Swift herself could net $4.1 billion from ticket sales and $1.8 billion from merchandise sales. On top of that, the Eras Tour movie is projected to gross about $375 million, from which Swift could net $113 million. By the time the tour ends in 2024, the singer could potentially be $6 billion richer (19). Assuming the $6 billion comprises about 80% of the tour’s revenue, Swift’s Eras Tour could gross about $7.5 billion.
It is without a doubt that Taylor Swift is among one of the most successful artists and women in the world right now. The Eras Tour is already set to be the highest-grossing tour of all time and has created a significant economic impact within multiple industries and sectors. Even now, it is difficult to predict the final outcome of the tour. Nobody can know what tricks Swift may have up her sleeve, but she has certainly made her mark in everything she has done thus far.
Image by Paolo Villanueva via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en.
References
(1) Behsudi, Adam. “Impact of the Pandemic on Tourism – IMF F&D.” IMF, Dec. 2020, www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2020/12/impact-of-the-pandemic-on-tourism-behsudi#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20half%20of.
(2) Richards, Tia. “Predicting the Future of the Entertainment Industry Post-COVID.” USC Today, 30 Mar. 2021, https://today.usc.edu/future-of-entertainment-after-covid-movies-tv-streaming-usc-experts/.
(3) Faughnder, Ryan. “AMC Theatres Lost $561 Million in One Quarter, with Revenue down Nearly 100%, because of COVID-19.” Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2020, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-08-06/amc-theatres-lost-561-million-in-one-quarter-because-of-covid-19.
(4) Hur, Krystal , and Bryan Mena. “First on CNN: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Could Become the Highest Grossing Tour of All Time | CNN Business.” CNN, 17 Aug. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/08/17/business/taylor-swift-eras-tour-two-billion/index.html.
(5) Kopstein, Jeannie, and Mariah Espada. “The Biggest Tour in the History of the World (Taylor’s Version).” Time, 23 Aug. 2023, https://time.com/6307420/taylor-swift-eras-tour-money-economy/.
(6) Bhattarai, Abha, et al. “The Economy (Taylor’s Version).” Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/13/taylor-swift-eras-tour-money-jobs/.
(7) Swift, Taylor . You’re on Your Own Kid. Republic Records, 21 Oct. 2022, https://open.spotify.com/track/4D7BCuvgdJlYvlX5WlN54t?si=1bb8e6f907d14c4e.
(8) Kopstein and Espada, “The Biggest Tour”
(9) Toay, Adel, and Mia Hunt. ““I’m the Problem, It’s Me”: Taylor Swift Fans, TikTok Cause Seattle Bead Store to Sell out of Merchandise.” King5.com, 14 July 2023, www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/seattle-bead-store-business-tiktok-taylor-swift/281-27f37c2b-3c02-4dc1-81b0-e5d60136b9a6.
(10) Bhattarai et al. “The Economy (Taylor’s Version)”
(11) Sfondeles, Tina. “Swifties, Post-Pandemic Travelers Help Illinois Break Hotel Revenue Record: “Our Tourism Industry Is Back and It’s Booming.”” Chicago Sun-Times, 10 July 2023, https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2023/7/10/23789978/illinois-hotel-revenue-record-taylor-swift-nascar-tourism.
(12) Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Summary of Economic Activity. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, June 2023, https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/surveys-and-data/beige-book/2023/230712-bb.pdf.
(13) Bhattarai et al. “The Economy (Taylor’s Version)”
(14) Pisani, Joseph. “It’s Taylor Swift’s Economy, and We’re All Living in It.” Wall Street Journal, 23 July 2023, www.wsj.com/arts-culture/taylor-swift-taylornomics-concert-eras-tour-local-economy-9fa1d492.
(15) Bhattarai et al. “The Economy (Taylor’s Version)”
(16) ““Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” Will Be a Blockbuster – and Might Shake up the Movie Business.” The Economic Times, 11 Oct. 2023, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/taylor-swift-the-eras-tour-will-be-a-blockbuster-and-might-shake-up-the-movie-business/articleshow/104332993.cms.
(17) Cain, Stephanie. “The Eras Tour Film Has Already Grossed More than $100m. The Taylor Swift Economy Is Unstoppable.” Www.bbc.com, 12 Oct. 2023, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20231011-the-eras-tour-film-has-already-grossed-more-than-100m-the-taylor-swift-economy-is-unstoppable#.
(18) Rottenberg, Josh. ““Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” Concert Film Sets Box Office Records.” Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2023, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-10-15/taylor-swift-eras-tour-concert-film-sets-box-office-records.
(19) Cohan, Peter. “The Eras Tour Could Net Taylor Swift $6 Billion.” Inc., 7 Oct. 2023, www.inc.com/peter-cohan/after-costs-eras-could-net-taylor-swift-6-billion.html.
Punchlist
Title: How the Eras Tour Revived Tourism in the U.S.
Keywords: taylor swift, u.s. economy, eras tour, tourism, entertainment, COVID-19
Policy & Political Review 
