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Taylor Swift performing on stage in Nashville, Tennessee.
Juan Shearer/tas23 | Getty Images Entertainment | fake images
Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and now Taylor Swift. Singapore is eyeing the gig economy as its new growth engine, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism revenue.
“The Lion City has traditionally been more of a magnet for business travel, but these large-scale global music events are a boon for Singapore’s travel-related services that can add up to 10% of its GDP,” he wrote. Yun Liu, ASEAN economist at HSBC, in a recent note.
In January, British band Coldplay performed six shows at Singapore’s National Stadium. Fans bought 200,000 tickets and the shows sold out in a matter of hours. breaking city-state record for the most tickets sold by an artist in a single day. Singapore was the country of Asia. main stop for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour, which boosts the country’s tourism industry.
Asia-Pacific travel platform Agoda recorded a “massive surge” in accommodation search traffic in Singapore covering Coldplay concert dates. The company said interest in those dates was 8.7 times higher after the band started selling tickets in June. Agoda said The increase was largely driven by neighboring countries Malaysia and Indonesia.
And starting this weekend, Singapore will welcome American pop star Taylor Swift, whose Eras tour in the United States last year is estimated to have generated around $4.6 billion in consumer spending.
“Taylor Swift is also expected to generate considerable economic momentum, given her track record,” Liu added.
If she didn’t have Singapore as a stopover, maybe she wouldn’t buy the ticket.
Mavis Mook
22-year-old Singaporean student
Shortly after, the singer announced the dates of her concerts in the city-state of Singapore. Hotel bookings for March 2024 up 10%, according to data from the hotel analysis company Smith Travel Research. Swift is scheduled to perform six shows in early March and the month she is on track to reach higher occupancy levels of the first eight months of 2024, according to STR data.
Demand for flights to Singapore also skyrocketed. Swift’s successful tour will only travel to three Asia-Pacific countries: Japan, Australia and Singapore. Last week, the Singapore Tourism Board said so provided a grant to bring Swift’s Eras tour to the country.
Both the country’s flagship carrier Singapore Airlines and low-cost airline Scoot told CNBC that demand for flights to Singapore in March has increased, particularly from Southeast Asia. Jetstar Asia also confirmed that it saw an increase in demand of approximately 20% for routes connecting destinations such as Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta with Singapore.
Coldplay performed on stage during the 2015 American Music Awards.
Kevin Mazur | Wire image | fake images
Swift’s concerts are expected to generate between S$350 million and $500 million ($260.3 million to $371.9 million) in tourism revenue, assuming around 70% of concertgoers arrive by plane from abroad, said Erica Tay, director of macroeconomic research at Maybank.
“If I didn’t have Singapore as a stop, maybe I wouldn’t buy a ticket,” said Mavis Mook, a 22-year-old Singaporean student, who spent almost S$300 ($223.38) on a ticket to the Taylor Swift concert.
“I want to experience this with friends who also grew up with me. It would be very difficult to fly together just for a concert,” he added. Mook told CNBC that he spent an additional S$150 on a concert outfit and beads for friendship bracelets, which concertgoers exchanged at each tour stop. He has also set aside funds to purchase tour merchandise.
Singapore has also attracted artists such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Blackpink and other notable artists. A star-studded concert program gives Singapore a new shine as a tourist destination.
“Traditionally it has been a MICE sector – meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions – that tended to attract wealthy business travelers,” HSBC’s Liu said.
Singapore has a large exposure to technology manufacturing and finance, but travel-related services account for 10% of the country’s GDP, he said.
Event tourism is reshaping the travel industry post-pandemic as more people are willing to fly to attend concerts or sporting events, Maybank’s Tay noted.
Beyond direct revenue from concerts, top-tier artists could also generate more lasting reputational improvements by supporting host countries.
“The scenes of her having fun in Singapore, whether sampling iconic dishes or taking in heritage architecture, will be a big help,” Tay said.
“If you fall in love with chicken rice, you can put the dish, and Singapore, on the map for a new global audience.”