When Taylor Swift’s Eras tour rolls into Singapore next yr, Rjay Ignacio said he’ll be there — whether he has a ticket or not.
“Taylor Swift has an enormous fan base in Asia,” the YouTube content creator from Pasig City, Philippines said. “So the probability may be very small to get a ticket.”
But that is not stopping him from making travel plans, he said.
“If I’m not capable of get a ticket, I’m still going to Singapore,” he said. “I’ll [the] car parking zone just to listen to and feel” the performance.
A growing trend
Traveling to attend events increased this yr, in line with a May report by Deloitte entitled “The Experience Economy Endures.”
Based on a survey of some 3,500 Americans, the report noted that essentially the most common motivators to travel — spending time with family members and leisure — have remained relatively regular.
“Nonetheless, 2023 saw a jump in motivations likely suppressed by the pandemic — like special events and romantic getaways,” it said.
Filipino Rjay Ignacio said this photo was inspired by his favorite Taylor Swift album, “Folklore.” He said he would only travel “for Taylor … I’m an enormous fan.”
Source: Rjay Ignacio
The pandemic halted travel and major sports and musical events, yet “there is certainly a rebound happening now,” said San Francisco resident Farhan Abrol, who attended the French Open and Wimbledon prior to now month.
“I feel like luxury is a standard reason to travel,” he said. Yet it’s “not something that seems to resonate with millennial ways to spend money.”
For this age group, he said it’s more about “stories over stuff.”
Traveling for the ‘best seats’
Bangkok resident Kanyarat Teawprasong secured tickets to see Swift perform in Singapore during a much maligned ticket pre-sale last week, where online queues topped greater than 1 million.
Now she and her boyfriend are planning a three-day trip to Singapore, which will likely be her fifth time visiting the city-state — “at all times for live shows,” she said.
“The primary stamp on my passport was for attending live shows,” she told CNBC Travel.
“I’m someone who really enjoys going to live shows, especially in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.”
Kanyarat Teawprasong, shown here at a Blackpink show, said “Besides participating within the concert, I also get to travel to different countries.”
Source: Kanyarat Teawprasong
Occasionally, a few of her favorite groups come to Thailand, but she chooses to see them elsewhere for the travel experience, she said.
Plus, “sometimes the rationale I attend live shows abroad is to secure the perfect seats.”
Big spenders
With more people willing to travel abroad for major events, cities that attract top-billed events like Singapore — Swift’s sole tour stop in Southeast Asia — will see tens of millions in foreign money flood into its hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions.
Swifties, or Taylor Swift fans, spend a median of $1,330 on tickets, food and travel, in line with the research company QuestionPro. But those traveling internationally are more likely to spend rather more, a fact exacerbated by rising travel costs, which frequently climb even higher around high-profile events.
Firms are arising to cater to those travelers, packaging event tickets with hotel stays, meet-and-greets, golf and other activities.
The entertainment company Live Nation launched Vibee in April. It’s selling packages to attend Austin City Limits Music Festival in October (from $1,366), in addition to a “VIP Experience” to attend U2:UV’s shows in Las Vegas later this yr (from $1,535), in line with its website.
Vibee’s VIP packages to Lollapalooza 2023, which will likely be held in Chicago’s Grant Park in August, have already sold out, in line with its website.
Armando L. Sanchez | Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
“A few of our international curated events include Dancing on the Sand, a weekend getaway within the Bahamas headlined and curated by Lionel Richie,” Vibee’s president Harvey Cohen told CNBC Travel.
“We anticipate that the intersection of music and travel will only proceed to strengthen.”
Ways to save lots of
Average hotel prices in the USA jump 50% when Swift’s Eras tour involves town, in line with the travel software company Navan. But data showed hotel rates greater than doubled in places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
To avoid facing an “astronomical price surge,” Jakarta resident Wid said one in every of his friends booked a hotel in Singapore before Swift’s tour tickets even went on sale. He asked to not be identified by his last name because he buys concert tickets for others for a fee.
American Nan Palmero said prices for accommodations, in addition to flights on Qatar Airways, were inflated for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha.
“FIFA had the system locked down so you could not get accommodations until you were ticketed for games. By the point we were capable of land accommodations, all hotels were booked or spoken for, for folks that had bundled VIP packages.”
He and his father eventually booked a two-bedroom apartment managed by Accor, he said.
Nan Palmero said the 2022 FIFA World Cup was the primary time he and his father traveled internationally for a sport events. “I jumped at the chance because it’s a world event in a spot that I’d never been.”
Source: Nan Palmero
As for flights, he said: “We ended up breaking up the trip and flying into Istanbul via Delta, staying the night within the airport hotel, then departing the remaining of the strategy to Doha via Qatar Airlines.”
Ignacio said he expects his airfare to attend Swift’s concert will likely be very expensive.
Relatively than flying directly from the Philippines to Singapore, he said: “I’ll fly [to] Malaysia first.”
From there, he plans on taking a six-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, which he estimated could save him as much as $400.