Taylor Swift and Singapore's multi-million dollar collaboration

Singapore is Taylor Swift's only Southeast Asian stop on her Eras Tour. The American star's six exclusive shows have helped boost the economy and tourism of the island nation.

Taylor Swift. Photo: AFP

Journey to convince Taylor Swift to come to Singapore According to Yahoo, since the beginning of 2023, Mr. Edwin Tong, Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, and a number of senior officials of Singapore flew to Los Angeles (USA) to negotiate a deal for Taylor Swift to perform exclusively in the lion island country in the Southeast Asian region. After Mr. Tong's trip, Singapore and Taylor Swift's representative signed the agreement in May 2023. By June, information about the concert was announced. Singapore's CNA page estimated that the total amount of money that Singapore spent on this contract was about 3 million USD. According to Mr. Edwin Tong, the original plan was for Taylor Swift to perform 3 nights. But due to the huge demand of Southeast Asian audiences, Singapore proactively requested to open 3 more shows and committed to support and create all conditions to operate 6 shows smoothly. The fact that Singapore is the only stop of the Eras Tour in Southeast Asia has caused controversy and caused reactions from neighboring countries. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said at a business forum in February 2024 that Singapore paid Taylor Swift more than $2.7 million per show. He said Thailand was also willing to sponsor Taylor Swift to perform. "If I had known this, I would have brought the show to Thailand," the Thai Prime Minister affirmed. Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour are just the opening shots. In the future, Singapore will bring many international stars to perform, to stimulate tourism, contribute to economic development and make the country an ideal destination for Asian music lovers. How does Singapore benefit? The Straits Times reported that Singapore's tourism revenue is estimated to earn $500 million after 6 shows of The Eras Tour at the Singapore National Stadium. Previously, all 300,000 tickets for the 6 shows were sold out. Ticket prices range from 108 to 1,228 USD (about 2.6 - 30 million VND). In addition, the local economy will also grow strongly thanks to tourism activities such as hotels, retail, travel and dining. Recently, Singapore has been chosen by many big artists as a performance venue such as Blackpink, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. Taylor Swift's historic tour will be an important project, contributing to the revival of the Singapore Sports Complex. Edmund Ong - General Director of Trip.com Singapore - said that from March 1 to 9, airfares to Singapore increased nearly 3 times while the number of accommodation bookings increased 5 times. The number of bookings for attractions and tours increased by more than 2,300%. The two airlines Singapore Airlines and Scoot said that demand for flights to Singapore in March skyrocketed, especially from Southeast Asia. Jetstar Asia also confirmed a 20% increase in demand for routes from Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta to Singapore. On Agoda, when tickets for The Eras Tour in Singapore went on sale, the number of searches for hotels in Singapore increased 160 times compared to normal. According to Business Insider (USA), travel-related spending in all places where The Eras Tour was held increased significantly. From airfare, accommodation, food to some retail items such as souvenirs. This phenomenon is also known as "Swiftonomics", combining the word "Swift" in the female singer's name and "economic" meaning economy. For example, Taylor Swift's 6 shows at SoFi Stadium - Los Angeles brought in 320 million USD, with 3,300 jobs, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy. Taylor Swift is also a rare pop star to be publicly praised by the US Federal Reserve for "bringing incredible benefits to the US economy". According to author Brittany Hodak, it will be difficult for any event to generate the same attraction as The Eras Tour in the near future, “maybe until Swift tours again”. Tourism units need to know how to take advantage of this moment, which many experts call “the phenomenon of the hotel industry”.

Laodong.vn

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