American singer Taylor Swift is on her “The Eras Tour”, during which she will perform a total of 151 times on five continents. On Thursday (August 1), the singer begins a three-day concert marathon in Poland, which will take place at the National Stadium in Warsaw. It is estimated that a total of around 240,000 people will take part in the events. The great interest in Swift's concerts also directly affects the local economy, as indicated by a report prepared by Mastercard analysts.
Taylor Swift concerts boost local economy, hotels and restaurants can count on increased sales
Mastercard's “Eventful Economy: Impact Uncovered” study has so far covered the UK and Spain, among other countries. The data shows that cities such as London, Liverpool and Edinburgh saw a 20 percent increase in hotel turnover on concert days. It was even higher in Madrid, where spending on accommodation increased by 31 percent compared to the same period last year.
It's not just the hospitality industry that's seeing the impact of Swift's concerts. During the UK leg of her tour restaurants recorded an average increase in sales of 27%. The highest was in London – 31%. The singer's fans are also flocking to cities organizing events from outside the country. In Great Britain, on concert days, the increase in payments with foreign cards was 45% in restaurants and 23% in hotels. The greatest impact on the local economy was recorded in a radius of 2 kilometers from the concert venue.
Spending near venues was even higher during the US tour, with venues in the immediate vicinity of the stadium seeing an average 68% increase in sales. Spending on lodging increased by 47% within a 4-kilometre radius of the stadium and 32% within a 16-kilometre radius of the venue.
How will Taylor Swift's concert affect Warsaw entrepreneurs?
What impact on revenues can businesses in Poland expect? Marek Kolano, an analyst at the Polish branch of Mastercard, estimates that the increase in spending in Warsaw will probably be similar to that recorded in the aforementioned European cities. – Year-on-year, these are 20-30% increases in hotels. Of course, this may result from changes pricesthe number of visitors and the length of stay. In restaurants, it is a bit more, it is 30-45 percent – the expert pointed out. – The closer to the concert venue itself, the more spectacular the expenses on restaurants grow, even by 70 percent – he added.
Marek Kolano points out that the increase in entrepreneurs' turnover is significant, but does not affect local spending to the same extent as football matches. – When we analyzed what happened in various cities that hosted matches Euro 2024, spending on restaurants in the entire city could grow by up to 280-300 percent, noted a Mastercard analyst.
At the end July Marek Traczyk from the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce told PAP that tourists coming to large concerts leave around 1,000 euroAccording to his estimates, in connection with Swift's concerts, “the total amount of visitors' expenses over the three days may amount to 45 million euros, or about 190 million PLN.” Przemysław Średziński wrote more on this subject in the article: “Taylor Swift in Warsaw. The capital is in for a flood of fans. They will leave a huge amount“.