Move over, Super Bowl — Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is one of hospitality’s most powerful economic engines.
According to data from global real estate services firm JLL, the pop star’s world tour has so far generated approximately $1 billion in additional hotel revenue across the U.S., Europe and Asia, with its impact rivaling traditional tourism drivers like the Super Bowl and even the Olympics during its peak periods.
“She’s had a pretty staggering impact,” said Zach Demuth, global head of research for JLL’s hotels group. “In some ways, she’s created many, many mini-Super Bowls.”
Taylor Swift fans at the the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry’s Tidal Cove Waterpark. Photo Credit: Kenneth Lesley
The tour, which returned to the U.S. this month and wraps up in December, has generated especially notable impact in markets with significant hotel inventory, added Demuth.
In Las Vegas, individual nights during Swift’s March 2023 concerts matched the per-night RevPAR of the city’s 2024 Super Bowl, with her shows driving 90% occupancy and average rates between $400 and $500 over a two- to three-day period, while the Super Bowl ran at about 80% occupancy, with average rates in the $600 range, over a four- to five-day period.
A similar trend played out when the Eras Tour was in Paris for four nights this past May.
“On an individual-night basis, the nights of her concert in Paris outperformed any of the individualized peak nights at the Olympics,” Demuth said.
The Eras Tour kicked off its final leg in Miami on Oct. 18, bringing a financial boon to the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. According to hotel vice president and general manager Shane Allor, room revenue increased by nearly $1 million during Swift’s Miami shows from Oct. 18 to 20 compared with the same weekend last year, with average room rates jumping by approximately $250 per night. The hotel also recorded 600 additional room nights over the three-day period, representing a 30% increase in occupancy.
Shane Allor
“We had been planning for this weekend ever since the tour and its Miami dates were announced,” Allor said. “We treated it just how you would the Super Bowl or college championship games coming to town.”
As part of efforts to maximize on anticipated demand, the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry also put together special programming to create a full Eras Tour experience. This included offerings like bracelet-making stations in the hotel’s conference room and a step-and-repeat photo op in the lobby. Allor said Swift-themed cabanas and DJ events at the hotel’s Tidal Cove Waterpark generated an additional $25,000 in revenue over just two days.
“We knew guests were coming for one to three nights, so we wanted to make sure that we were capturing them and keeping them engaged while they were here,” Allor said.
A scene aboard Brightline’s Sing-Along Train in Florida. Photo Credit: Brightline
The Swift effect beyond hotels
The hotel’s Swift-centric offerings reflect a broader trend. Travel suppliers have rolled out a flurry of activations designed to appeal to the singer’s passionate fan base.
In October, Florida’s Brightline train service capitalized on Swift’s Miami concerts by launching Swift Sing-Along Train service from Orlando to Aventura, complete with friendship bracelet-making stations, singing and specialty drinks served in souvenir disco balls.
Taylor Swift-themed tours are also on the rise, with On Location Tours and GetYourGuide joining forces this fall to debut a two-hour walking tour in Manhattan’s West Village, which showcases the New York locations that have shaped Swift’s life and lyrics. And in tandem with Swift’s London dates this past summer, ToursByLocals launched guided tours that took fans through Swift-connected locations in the city while sharing insider knowledge about the singer’s time there.
Zach Demuth
The unprecedented scale of the Eras Tour has even reshaped international travel patterns. JLL’s Demuth estimates that more than half of the tour’s attendees in Europe were non-Europeans, and most of that group were Americans.
“In many cases, because of the strength of the dollar and Europe’s stringent ticket-pricing regulations, it was actually cheaper for Americans to buy a ticket in Europe, fly to Europe and stay in Europe than it would have been to see her domestically,” Demuth said.
This phenomenon was so significant that during the 2024 Bank of America Gaming & Lodging Conference in early September, Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian credited part of Hyatt’s strong performance in Europe with what he called “the Taylor Swift effect.”
“She had a much bigger impact on Hyatt than the Olympics in Paris did,” he said, adding that her economic influence extends beyond the hospitality sphere.
“I think she contributed a couple hundred basis points to global GDP this year, not kidding,” Hoplamazian said. “It’s incredible.”
Travel advisor Tim Davis of Ohio-based LoveLand & Sea Travel has observed the tour’s extraordinary influence on travel firsthand.
Davis arranged six separate multicity trips for clients attending a Swift concert in Europe this year, with each trip valued at between $12,000 and $25,000, excluding the cost of concert tickets. He estimates that he’s brought in $80,000 to $100,000 in Taylor Swift-adjacent travel sales so far this year.
“Travelers were willing to travel halfway across the globe to see their favorite singer, [which offered them] a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a similar price as a domestic weekend getaway with a U.S. tour date,” Davis said. “So, which do you choose? Milwaukee or Milan? Of course, Milan.”
