By Tim Chan
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Taylor Swift fans flocked to Liverpool last week for the first of her sold-out “Eras Tour” UK dates, but it wasn’t just Liverpool locals in the crowd. Among the more than 55,000 Swifties at Anfield Stadium were fans who had traveled from as far as India, China and the Philippines, in addition to seemingly thousands of people from North America.
While they don’t share exact booking data, travel site Expedia says search interest in Liverpool has increased by as much as 875% over last year, likely due to Swift announcing her tour dates in the city. Searches for Warsaw, Poland, meantime, have increased by a whopping 1130%, per Expedia, with bookings tied to Swift’s concert there in August. Aside from those top two cities, Swifties drove up Expedia searches for May to August by almost 65% for cities that are part of the singer’s 2024 European tour. Call it the “Taylor tourism effect.”
In a recent Expedia survey, nearly 70% of respondents said they would be more likely to travel to a concert outside their hometown, especially if it was cheaper. More than 40% said they’d see traveling for a concert as an excuse to visit a new place. That has not only increased bookings on Expedia to lesser-known destinations (think Liverpool over London), it has also become a major driver of those local economies.
It isn’t just Swift who is driving business for “tour tourism” — last year saw U.S. fans flocking to Europe for Beyonce’s “Renaissance Tour,” and unexpected cities on Expedia’s list of top tour tourism destinations this year include Kuala Lumpur (where Dua Lipa is playing November); Edmonton (where Avril Lavigne, Zach Bryan and Bruce Springsteen will make stops this year); and Mexico City, which will welcome Jonas Brothers, Niall Horan and The Killers, among others. While hotel prices run into the high-hundreds for major cities like New York and Chicago, Expedia has stays available from $91 in Kuala Lumpur, and $119 in Mexico City and Warsaw, proving these so-called “destination dupes” may provide the best value for concert goers.
The top summer ticket aside from Swift? According to Expedia, it’s Justin Timberlake who is leading search interest on the site, with his upcoming concerts in Amsterdam and Munich “driving higher demand” in hotel bookings than Swift. Here in the U.S., Expedia is seeing an increase in bookings for small towns like Hershey, Pennsylvania and Lexington, Kentucky, with travel searches up 1400% and 800% respectively for more affordable stays there tied to Timberlake’s dates.
While Expedia is best known for offering accommodations and experiences (think guided tours and sightseeing packages), the site also has sports and concert tickets available as part of its resale marketplace. Tickets to 2024 Eras Tour dates start at $408 as of this writing, all backed by Expedia’s money-back guarantee.
As for tips on how to score the best deals to see Swift (and other artists): in addition to searching for the less mainstream destinations mentioned above, Expedia says to consider commuting to the concert rather than staying in the exact city where the show is taking place, which can often shave a few hundred dollars off accommodations. The site also notes that Saturday night is often the most expensive night to stay in a hotel. If an artist is playing multiple dates, try and opt for midweek or Sunday.
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