Pop superstar Taylor Swift’s three Liverpool shows will inject more than £26m into the city’s economy, new analysis claims. Tony McDonough reports
US pop sensation Taylor Swift will play three sellout shows at Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium later this week, boosting the city’s economy by an estimated £13.6m.
UK discount website VoucherCodes has released the Eras Tour Spending Report which offers an analysis of estimated spending around the concerts which take place on Thursday, June 13, Friday 14 and Saturday 15.
It claims £13.6m will be spent with hospitality businesses such as restaurants and bars, as well as retailers. It adds that fans will also spend around £6m on hotels and other accommodation. Monday spent on merchandise, drinks and snacks all add to the total.
Last week retail and leisure complex Liverpool ONE predicted it would see an extra £12m of spending on top of normal for those days. It has based its calculations on spending during Eurovision in Liverpool in May 2023.
VoucherCodes also claims that around 144,000 Taylor Swift fans, known as ‘Swifties’ will descend on the city with around 10,000 predicted to do so without tickets for the show. Anfield capacity each night is around 53,000.
Each Swifitie attending the Liverpool shows will spend an estimated £523.12 on average and each one is expected to splurge £78.82 on Taylor t-shirts, hoodies, posters and more.
Hotel and Airbnb prices are predicted to shoot up by 115% over the weekend – that’s more than any other UK tour city. This means fans are having to fork out £135.26 for accommodation on average. An additional £6.7m will be spent on travel.
Swift’s The Eras Tour has resulted in a gold rush for businesses with a forecast £700m boost to the UK economy – the equivalent of £552.15 per tour attendee or everyone in the UK spending £10.28.
As part of the wider city’s schedule to welcome the singer, Liverpool ONE will also play host to three installations of the ‘Taylor Town’ takeover, each one inspired by a different album – or ‘era’.
The Taylor Town Trail, organised by Liverpool City Council, features a total of 11 pieces of artwork around the city.
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Anita Naik, ‘savings expert’ at VoucherCodes, said: “The Eras Tour is a once-in-a-lifetime event so it’s hardly surprising that Swifties are going all out to make the event special.
“Fans will be swarming the streets before and after the concerts, splurging on merchandise, and food and drink ready for the show.
“Not only is Taylor taking over the town with floods of fans, but Liverpool’s even been renamed Taylor Town in Swift’s honour.
“With 11 Eras Tour themed art installations scattered across the city, it’s a fun and cheap way to get involved with the tour even if you’ve missed out on tickets.”