- The stunning success of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has had a noticeable effect on the US economy.
- The Federal Reserve highlighted the effect of her three Philadelphia concerts in its Beige Book.
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which consists of 131 concerts across 17 states and 5 continents, has caught the attention of the Federal Reserve because of its noticeable economic impact.
The tour, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans to cities across the US, helped boost hotel revenues considerably in Philadelphia.
"Despite the slowing recovery in tourism in the region overall, one contact highlighted 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," the Fed said in its most recent Beige Book.
Swift performed three concerts at Lincoln Financial Field on May 12, 13, and 14, and she returned to Pennsylvania in mid-June to perform in Pittsburgh.
According to data from Booking.com, hotel prices more than tripled in anticipation of the tour in some cities, including Pittsburgh; Minneapolis; and Kansas City, Missouri. The hotel-occupancy rate in Allegheny County, an era of Pennsylvania that includes Pittsburgh, approached 100% during the Swift tour and hotel-reservation platforms crashed because of the surge in web traffic.
This weekend, Swift's tour is set to hit Denver, and one estimate from the Common Sense Institute suggests the concert may generate $140 million for the state's gross domestic product. The city expects about 75,000 Swift fans to attend each of the two sold-out concerts, and the report said it could lead to more than $200 million in direct consumer spending.
To truly understand the scale of Swift's upcoming Denver concerts, the report said the two Eras shows would generate an estimated $38 million in ticket sales, which is equivalent to 63% of the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre's ticket sales last year.
"The totality of Taylor Swifts' U.S. tour could generate $4.6 billion in total consumer spending, larger than the GDP of 35 countries," the Common Sense Institute said.
So if the economy manages to avoid a recession that so many are worried about, the US may have Taylor Swift and her deeply loyal fans to thank.
Correction: July 13, 2023 — This story was updated to clarify the scope of the Federal Reserve's research. A reference to its findings about Taylor Swift's economic impact ringing "especially" true in Philadelphia was removed because its analysis focused only on Philadelphia.