What Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour says about “passion tourism”

Taylor Swift's European Tour was an important consideration for Nikita Rao when planning the destination for her family’s annual summer vacation.

Rao, her husband and their two children, who live in Bethesda, Maryland, traveled abroad last weekend: They have tickets for the pop star's concert in Amsterdam on Thursday.

The family planned a week-long itinerary across the Eras Tour event, spending a number of days in London before heading to the Netherlands for the show. They likely would have visited the 2 cities sooner or later in the long run, however the Swift concert sped up their schedule, said Rao, 43, who also attended a performance in Cincinnati along with her daughter last 12 months.

“My thinking was, we should do this – London and Amsterdam – because that's where she's going to be,” Rao said. “If I get tickets, it will just make the whole vacation great,” she said of her thought process.

It's not only the Rao family.

Americans are flocking abroad to see Taylor Swift in what travel experts say stands out as the most outstanding example of so-called “passion tourism.”

Passion tourism is (not surprisingly) about people’s passions. Although location is mostly necessary, these trips are generally guided through personal interests, hobbies or a cultural event, experts said.

This just isn’t a brand new concept. In fact, there are numerous current and future examples: the annual Carnival celebration in February in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the full solar eclipse in April in North America; the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which begin this month; and the continued UEFA European Football Championship (often known as the Euro Cup) in Germany.

“Unforgettable events are driving travel trends, whether they are concerts or sporting events,” says Mastercard wrote recently in its annual travel trends report.

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However, what sets Taylor Swift live shows apart in the sector of passion tourism, in keeping with travel agents, is the nice interest and enthusiasm of Americans who wish to travel abroad.

“I have never seen such excitement about traveling to see an artist,” said Jessica Griscavage, travel consultant and founding father of Runway Travel.

The most up-to-date example which may come near this was a Spice Girls concert within the Nineties, she said.

Griscavage, who put together the Rao family's itinerary, also organized a separate, Swift-centered trip to Paris for a daughter, mother and grandmother.

More than half of Americans, namely 53%, discover as fans by Taylor Swift, in keeping with a survey by Morning Consult. About 16% consider themselves “raving” fans.

“Beyoncé is big too, but we don't usually get requests like, 'I have Beyoncé tickets to Europe and we want to plan a trip around it,'” said Sofia Markovich, travel consultant and founding father of Sofia's Travel.

She arranged trips for 2 US clients who had tickets to Taylor Swift live shows in England and Switzerland respectively.

“Just as Grateful Dead fans were known for following the band from city to city to be part of a unique community, Swifties – often with friends and family in tow – have made traveling to their concerts part of the experience,” said Joshua Friedlander, vice chairman of research on the U.S. Travel Association. wrote recently via the so-called “Swift Lift”.

According to Mastercard's travel report, around 15.9 million Americans traveled abroad in the primary quarter of 2024, a record high. Consumers world wide are also spending record amounts on travel, it said.

According to experts, passion tourism generally brings economic growth to the host countries.

For example, tourist spending at restaurants, bars and grocery stores during Rio's 2024 Carnival was 156 percent above normal, Mastercard found. During the eclipse, hotel revenue within the U.S. path of totality rose 71 percent, it said.

Around 1.2 million fans will attend a Taylor Swift concert this summer in 4 cities within the UK (Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London), in keeping with a recent evaluation by Barclays. Each fan will spend a median of 848 British kilos (about $1,073) for tickets, travel, accommodation, clothing and other expenses, which Barclays estimates total £997 million (about $1.3 billion).

According to the Barclays evaluation, accommodation is the biggest expenditure item after tickets, followed by travel.

Searches for Airbnb accommodations in European cities during Taylor Swift's “The Eras” tour have increased by about 70% in comparison with the identical period in 2023, in keeping with a recent evaluation.

Rome and Paris are traditionally amongst Americans' favorite travel destinations, nevertheless it's “inevitable” that Swift fans will find yourself in a city they could have previously ignored, like Edinburgh, said Christopher Nulty, global head of corporate communications and public affairs at Airbnb.

When tickets for Edinburgh's concert dates went on sale last 12 months, searches by Americans for accommodation in town increased by 500%, Nulty said.

A concert “combines the opportunity to travel to an incredible place with the chance to see an artist you love,” he said.

The economics of ticket sales also likely play a task, experts say. Some Swifties who couldn't afford the U.S. market attributable to ticket costs may find it cheaper overall (or comparably expensive) to purchase a ticket and add within the associated travel costs for a concert abroad.

“Resale tickets are much cheaper in Europe than in the U.S.,” said travel consultant Griscavage.

Plus, “I think it's really exciting to see them in a city outside the U.S.,” she added. “It's a great opportunity and people are willing to pay for it.”