Taylor Swift draws five times as many US luxury travellers as the Olympics

Taylor Swift is playing four shows at La Défense Arena, just outside Paris, from May 9 to 12.

(May 7): Paris authorities have spent years readying for the almost two million international visitors expected for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but they may have overlooked a far bigger phenomenon now coming to the city: Taylor Swift.

This week, the billionaire superstar is playing four shows at La Défense Arena, just outside the capital, kicking off the European leg of her “Eras Tour”. With a total seating capacity of 40,000 per show, the music event is a small fraction of the size of the Olympic Games. And yet the concerts are drawing five times as many Americans as the Paris Olympics, according to figures from New York-based luxury travel agency Embark Beyond. For both events, trips would normally be booked many months in advance.

“I never would have anticipated it,” says Embark co-founder Jack Ezon. “Look at what Taylor did to the Super Bowl. She’s even overshadowing the Olympics.”

By that, of course, Ezon is referring to Swift’s ability to broaden football viewership simply by supporting her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, at several games. According to former Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish, her attendance was considered one of the factors that made this year’s Super Bowl the most watched broadcast in US history.

Now, Swift fever is reaching Europe, where many cities — including Paris — maintain limitations on ticket resales, preventing prices from reaching the five-digit sums that some consumers have paid in US markets.

Ezon says that among the more than 200 Paris trips his company has planned for Swifties, the average length is three nights, with clients usually staying at luxury hotels like the Plaza Athénée, the Hôtel de Crillon and Le Bristol. Around a third of the groups are mother-daughter pairs who want to schedule shopping sprees around the concerts. Some 20% of clients are also planning larger European trips to follow the shows, adding destinations such as London or the south of France.

The appetite for the blockbuster tour comes amid lower-than-expected demand for the Olympic Games, with many high-end vacation rentals slashing prices for the summer as owners come to terms with the overblown hype. Hotel prices, similarly, have dipped more than 30% in the past six months, according to data from travel insights company Lighthouse.

Olympics bookings could still pick up as the July 26 opening ceremony approaches, especially given the recent price drops. The pace of inquiries and bookings has increased by 8% following a 14% decline in April, Ezon notes.

As for the Taylor effect in Paris — it should come as no surprise. Swift’s tour has given a boost to many economies, including Australia’s and Singapore’s. In 2023, the first round of her US concerts contributed US$4.3 billion (RM20.37 billion) to the country’s gross domestic product, according to estimates from Bloomberg Economics.