In June, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will kick off its UK dates, starting in Edinburgh on the 7th. The popular singer has been gaining media attention recently not only for her cultural impact, but also her economic one, with research suggesting cities that play host to her Eras Tour performance dates see a significant boost.
According to Time Magazine, the US leg of the Eras tour has grossed $2.2 billion in ticket sales, and was projected to provide a boost of around $5 billion in consumer spending. The magazine even goes as far as to say that if Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than as many as 50 countries worldwide.
After watching the economic reverberations of the US leg of the tour, experts started wondering about how the tour may affect the UK economy and the various industries and sectors within it.
According to Barclays’ Swiftonomics Report, they calculated that the Eras Tour is expected to bring in almost £1 billion (£997m) to the UK’s experience economy. They expect each fan, or ‘Swiftie’, to spend £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits, and other expenses, which is more than 12 times the average cost of a UK night out (£67).
The 15 performances across four cities will have a combined capacity of almost 1.2 million fans. The UK section of the tour consists of 8 performances at Wembley Stadium in London, 3 dates at BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, 1 date in Principality Stadium in Cardiff, and 3 performances at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium.
Dr Peter Brooks, Chief Behavioural Scientist at Barclays, commented: “When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift – like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the 50s and 60s – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful. For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert – but for Eras Tour ticket holders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”
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