As Taylor Swift fever sweeps the nation, data from Barclays reveals that the megastar’s shows will buoy the British economy by £1 billion. Jess Hipgrave reports
Almost a year after it started (and only halfway through its planned 152-show run), Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour is still in full swing.
Nearly 1.2 million fans will gather from all over the UK to watch superstar Taylor Swift perform this summer, over 15 performances across four cities, with the European tour concluding on August 20, at Wembley Stadium in London.
Barclays’ Swiftonomics report reveals that Swifites attending the UK Eras tour are predicted to splash out £848 per person with a total of a £997 million boost to the economy.
The average ticket price for the Era’s tour is £206. However, 14 per cent of fans have purchased the VIP “bejewelled ticket” (which comes with exclusive merchandise and premium seating) for £400.
The report combines millions of customer transactions with consumer research to analyse the extra expenses fans make alongside the tour.
After the ticket sales, fans will spend on notable costs such as travel, with one in four fans saying they will have to travel to a different city and one in five travelling to Europe to see the singer, with an average spend of £111.
Furthermore, almost a fifth of fans will purchase a new outfit specifically for the concert with an average spend of £56.
A sum of £76 is expected to be spent on the merchandise tour stops as well as an average of £59 on a pre-concert meal, which helps boost the local restaurant sales. Swifties spend the most on accommodation, with an average of £121.
Luxury hotel group Shangri-La has seen some booking patterns as a result of the tour. The Shangri-La Paris, for example, saw an 120 per cent increase in bookings during Taylor Swift’s Paris concert dates in May 2024 compared to the same time last year.
Due to its popularity coinciding with the tour, some of the hotel locations provide private transportation to concert attendees, as well as pre-show beauty services.
Chief Behavioural Scientist at Barclays, Dr Peter Brooks says: “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 ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”
The updated statistics follow the release of Barclays Consumer Spend Index, which showed that consumer spending spiked during the pre-release period of the Eras Tour in July of last year, with entertainment spending rising 15.8 per cent over July 2022.
