The Philly office credited the singer with raising hotel revenues for first time since start of coronavirus pandemic.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during night two of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on July 08, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Fernando Leon/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
If you’ve seen Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, you know that when it rolls into town it absolutely takes over. The massive outing that is doubling (or tripling) down in cities across the nation every weekend has provided a shot in the arm to local economies thanks to Swifties freely spending their hard-earned cash.
But now the Philadelphia Federal Reserve has announced that Swift is, literally, hoisting the hotel industry on her back and boosting revenues in that sector for the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The central bank released its Beige Book on Wednesday in which officials said hotel bookings had their strongest growth in years thanks to Swifties. “Despite the slowing recovery in tourism in the region overall, one contact highlighted that May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in Philadelphia since the onset of the pandemic, in large part due to an influx of guests for the Taylor Swift concerts in the city,” officials wrote.
The Book is released eight times a year and summarizes how the economy is holding up in cities throughout the country. The Philly bump isn’t the only example of the Swift tide lifting a local economy. NBC News reported that when Swift touched down in Cincinnati on June 30 and July 1, the surge of Swifties brought more than $2.6 million into downtown hotels, as well as $5.3 million to hotels in the surrounding area.
“Taylor Swift is a force to be reckoned with,” president/CEO of tourism agency Visit Cincinnati Julie Calvert said in a statement at the time. “The economic impact Swift creates is staggering, as fans travel from far and wide to attend her concerts, filling hotels, restaurants, and local attractions. Swift’s influence on tourism is a testament to her ability to captivate audiences and drive economic growth.”
The Swift Effect is doing the same in pretty much every town it visits, with Chicago tourism officials saying last month that the city broke hotel occupancy records during the first weekend of June thanks to Swift’s shows at Soldier Field, with more than 44,000 hotel rooms occupied each night and $39 million in total hotel revenue.
The Eras Tour touches down at Denver’s Empower Field on Friday (July 14) and Saturday (July 15).
