Fan frenzy at one of her soldout concerts has caused a minor earthquake and her career has inspired several university courses. Now, the Taylor Swift pop music tsunami is about to hit Singapore in early March 2024, and the government is looking at a happy flood of tourism money, plus future economic benefits.
The Singapore government has worked hard to keep “Tay Tay” — as the singer is called by her fans, aka the “Swifties” — exclusive to the island nation when it comes to shows in South-East Asia. How this was achieved has now been revealed by The Straits Times, quoting the state authorities.
In a joint statement issued yesterday, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said that the Board “supported the [Taylor Swift concert series] event through a grant”.
Taylor Swift performs at the National Stadium in Singapore on March 2-9, 2024, with a gap on March 5-6.
The joint statement from the Singapore authorities did not mention the grant amount for Taylor Swift, but reportedly the music megastar might be getting up to SGD 4 million per show to keep it exclusive for Singapore in this part of Asia. Her ‘Eras Tour’ global itinerary only has Japan as the other stop in Asia.
Speculation about the money started after Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin recently said that he was told, by the concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), that Taylor Swift could not perform anywhere in South-East Asia except Singapore, since the Government of Singapore had struck a deal of exclusive rights to host her concerts, offering the sum of USD 2-3 million (up to SGD 4 million) per show.
Singapore’s tourism sector looks at windfall
Revealing that there was a “grant”, without saying how much, the Singapore authorities’ joint statement said that the Taylor Swift concert series would likely carry benefits for industries within the Singapore tourism sector, such as hospitality, retail, travel, and dining.
Indeed, judging by the worldwide results so far, it seems that where Taylor Swift goes, billions of tourism dollars follow — billions, not millions.
The financial news agency Bloomberg reported that the city of Melbourne, Australia, alone could see a value of AUD 1.2 billion coming into its economy, as per the estimate given by the city’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The Australia leg of the ‘Eras Tour’ — covering Melbourne and Sydney — began on February 16 and it goes on till February 26. The Bloomberg report said that fans were trying to watch Taylor Swift live on stage not just once, but as many times as they could. For instance, a 19-year-old student was spending AUD 2,000 (approx USD 1,200) on flights, accommodation, and concert tickets for three Taylor Swift shows.
A Forbes report in June 2023 said that the ‘Eras Tour’ could bring a “staggering” USD 4.6 billion in consumer spending collectively to the American cities that hosted the Taylor Swift concerts.
A month later, in July 2023, the city of Seattle saw a seismic event — “equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake”, said CNN — caused by Swifties dancing to chartbusters such as Shake It Off. Meanwhile, the city’s economy got an estimated boost of up to USD 40 million per night from the two concerts it hosted.
Then, in August 2023, as the first US leg of the ‘Eras Tour’ was concluded in Los Angeles after a six-night concert series, there were projected benefits of USD 320 million to the GDP of LA County and another USD 160 million for local earnings. These figures were from a report published by the California Centre for Jobs.
Destination for large-scale international events
Given the scale of the economic benefits, the reported STB grant of up to SGD 4 million per night to the Taylor Swift team does not appear far-fetched.
With six concerts, Singapore is set to turn into a Taylor Swift destination in March 2024. So far, more than 300,000 tickets have been sold for the shows at the National Stadium, which has a maximum seating capacity of 55,000. Fans are set to pour in from other countries.
The joint statement from the STB and the MCCY said: “Singapore has much to offer as a destination for large-scale international events, with our strategic location, quality infrastructure, safety, efficiency and diverse cultural offerings.”
Having recognised the economic value of the “significant demand” generated by Taylor Swift concerts, Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), the corporate entity under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, worked directly with AEG to bring the concerts to Singapore.
The statement added that KASM collaborated with various event organisers to create a “uniquely Singapore experience” for people who lived in the country and those who visited.