How Swift sales for Taylor’s tour boosted credit card spending
TICKETS for her 13 UK stadium concerts next year sold out within hours.
And Taylor Swift fans’ race to snap up their places last month has helped boost credit card spending, latest figures show.
Overall spending in July was up 4 per cent year-onyear, Barclays found – with the amount shelled out on going to see shows and films up by 15.8 per cent.
The ‘ Swifties effect’ helped buck a downward trend amid the cost of living crisis.
Some tickets for the Eras Tour concerts – taking place in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and at Wembley Stadium next summer – set fans back as much as £600, with online queues to secure them hours long.
But it wasn’t just Taylor Swift fans who were behind the rise. Ticket sales for the upcoming tour by rock band The Foo Fighters have also given the entertainment industry a muchneeded boost.
Barclays says consumers are cutting back on other expenses to treat themselves to tickets for concerts and movies, with one in ten saying they bought tickets even though they couldn’t really afford it.
Alice Enders, economist at Enders Analysis, said: ‘The live music sector has long been a marvel for all to see, both here and around the world, because it provides an experience, both in terms of the music, socially and just being there for your favourite artist.
‘It is also currently still benefiting from the postpandemic bounce-back of demand, like travel. Glastonbury was another huge bounce for UK entertainment spend.’
Earlier this year, US singer Beyonce made headlines when the price of tickets for her shows in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London was blamed for a higher than expected inflation rate of 8.7 per cent in May. The cost of hotels in cities on the tour also rose, with rooms in Cardiff going for as much as £1,000 a night.