Taylor Swift Tour Expected to Generate $780 Million in Melbourne, Australia

As pop star Taylor Swift kicks off her Eras tour in Australia, fans are flocking to the concerts and injecting money into the economy.

The tour, along with other major events, is expected to generate billions of dollars in economic value, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Feb. 15).

Swift’s Eras tour is set to have seven shows across Australia’s two biggest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, according to the report.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the tour could generate 1.2 billion Australian dollars (about $780 million) in economic value in that city alone, per the report. The concerts in Sydney’s Accor Stadium are expected to be the biggest series of major events since the city hosted the Olympic Games in 2000.

With fans traveling interstate and overseas, there is a high demand for hotels, the report said. This surge in demand has led to increased prices for flights and accommodation.

Swift’s global tour has been dubbed “Swiftonomics” due to its economic impact, per the report. Bloomberg Economics estimates that these events, along with other major events like Beyoncé’s tour and the “Barbenheimer” films, may have contributed as much as $8.5 billion to U.S. growth in the third quarter of 2023.

However, economists warn that the boost to the Australian economy delivered by Swift’s tour may be short-lived, according to the report.

There are concerns about the country’s low savings rate and the cost of living, the report said. The savings rate is at its lowest since the end of 2007, putting households under extreme pressure at a time of higher interest rates.

Economists also warn that concert-related spending may crowd out purchases in other areas, particularly in already weak discretionary sectors, per the report. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock addressed the topic of “Taylor Swift inflation,” saying that people are prioritizing spending on the concert over other expenses.

It was reported Feb. 4 that Swift accounted for 2% of the music industry’s entire sales in 2023.

On Feb. 7, Disney announced during its quarterly earnings call that Disney+ will be the exclusive streaming platform for Swift’s concert film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version).”