I was walking along the Guadalquivir River in Seville, where I had just begun my latest solo travel adventure.
19.12.2023 - 12:39 / travelpulse.com / Taylor Swift / Royal Caribbean / Lacey Pfalz
“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned..." — Taylor Swift
Global superstar Taylor Swift isn’t only one stealing fans’ hearts around the world with her Eras Tour: she’s taking center stage in a global tourism boom, and everyone from tour operators to world leaders to travel advisors are taking notice.
Most of us likely understand that entertainment, such as sporting events and concerts, are intrinsically tied to the travel industry, but we’ve never seen it like this before. Taylor Swift’s U.S.-leg of her tour, which spanned twenty cities across a period of five months, brought in $5 billion in direct spending.
The U.S. Travel Association estimates the entire impact of her U.S. tour could be as high as $10 billion. QuestionPro compares the initial $5 billion as greater than the gross domestic product of over 50 countries.
The city of Pittsburgh, for example, reported 145,579 people in attendance for Swift’s two weekend concerts, which were in June. Of those, only 17 percent were from within Allegheny County, with the rest coming from further away, encouraging greater travel spending through plane tickets, hotel stays and more.
County-wide hotel occupancy for that period was up 31 percent from the same time in 2022, reaching 95 percent, with hotel rates ballooning 106 percent higher than in June 2022. In fact, the month of June broke the highest hotel tax revenue in the county’s history.
“Concerts are such a big draw for out-of-town visitation for destinations like Pittsburgh,” said Jerad Bachar, President & CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH. “These concerts are an integral part of our overall calendar of events every year. Last year, we had over 20 mega concerts at our three stadiums from April to October. Those 20 concerts are critical for everything we do. They also support a lot of other events and venues that are here…The impact is felt throughout the entire community.”
The total for Pittsburgh? Some $46 million in direct economic impact.
"Grab your passport and my hand..." — Taylor Swift
The Taylor Swift Travel Era is going strong. Tour operators like Contiki are offering combined tour and concert experiences for Swift’s European tour, while others within the industry are finding unique ways to bring Taylor Swift fans together — regardless of whether she’ll be there or not.
A young woman walks by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (Photo Credit: Contiki)
Marvelous Mouse Travels launched an intimate Taylor Swift fan cruise group experience for next year, reserving 50 cabins for the group onboard an October, 2024 sailing on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas.
“In My Cruise Era,” as the experience is called, quickly sold out the first 50 cabins. The agency opened a max of 200 cabins for
I was walking along the Guadalquivir River in Seville, where I had just begun my latest solo travel adventure.
Tickets will be awarded via cumulative sales, with the first two winners being awarded at the end of January, then one new winner each month from February – July.
56 travel industry awards won in 2023.
Passing of Scott Ahlsmith, CTC, a board of trustees and executive committee member for The Travel Institute, travel industry thought leader, and travel advisor advocate.
China’s travel and tourism industry – among the world’s biggest – last year began its recovery from heavy pandemic damage. One beneficiary: Trip.com Group, a global travel service provider that is China’s largest. Revenue in the third quarter of 2023 almost doubled from a year earlier; net profit in the three months to September totaled 4.6 billion yuan (about $637 million), more than 18 times the year-earlier 245 million yuan.
The travel industry has made enormous progress in its rebound from the pandemic this year, but it still faces several hurdles in its quest to make a full recovery — such as Chinese outbound travel not yet hitting pre-Covid levels.
Taylor Swift may be singing, “You Need to Calm Down,” but fans in Asia aren’t listening. The singer’s highly anticipated Singapore tour in March is stirring up a travel storm in Southeast Asia.
For me, travel is about meeting people, being a lifelong learner and seeing the world through different perspectives.
In 1775, Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General.
It was a year that was to mark the post-pandemic recovery of travel, bringing economic relief to local communities that had been hit hard by the prolonged loss of tourism revenue. Borders fully reopened, pandemic restrictions were lifted and traveler bookings surged, sparking a social media trend called “revenge travel.” But even as demand in 2023 reached near 2019 levels — with an estimated 975 million tourists traveling internationally between January and September, according to the World Tourism Organization — a series of disasters, upheavals and unparalleled weather events devastated destinations across the globe.
While many reports this time of year are focused on looking at what lies ahead, Skyscanner is taking a different approach.The global travel marketplace has crunched its voluminous booking data from the past 12 months to provide an insider's review of the “Year in Travel” for 2023. All of the Skyscanner number crunching resulted in insights surrounding the most popular travel destinations of the past year among U.S. travelers, cheapest flights, biggest hotel bargains, and even the most budget-friendly car rental destinations. Let’s start with the most popular travel destinations, shall we?Drumroll please….Sin City aka Las Vegas, Nevada nabbed the top spot in the hearts of American travelers in 2023, attracting more visitors than any other location.“From visiting one of the many world-famous casinos or checking out world-renowned restaurants and shops on the Las Vegas strip, US travelers loved to visit and feel the vibes of Sin City,” says the Skyscanner report. Coming in second place among Americans was the eternal favorite, London.
The economic juggernaut that is Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" is crossing the Atlantic Ocean.