Analysts: Inflation surge in France not as bad as in neighboring countries

• Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” caused hotel prices to skyrocket in Portugal, Spain and Sweden, but not in France.
• France’s larger population and hotel capacity would have mitigated the economic impact of Swift’s concerts, analysts said.
• Upcoming shows in smaller European countries may experience higher accommodation prices and higher inflation.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has visited five European countries so far, and the sold-out shows have driven up accommodation prices everywhere except one: France.

Three of the four countries Swift visited in May have seen hotel prices increase this year compared to the past three years, according to a report released Monday by BMI, an analytics arm of Fitch Solutions.

In Portugal, Spain and Sweden, hotel prices rose in May by several times their 2021-2023 average. In France, on the other hand, inflation in accommodation establishments fell. The researchers did not analyze price developments this month in the UK.

BMI researchers attributed this difference to France’s larger population and hotel capacity compared to other tour stops, which could weaken the impact of the American pop star’s concerts.

The 290,000 people who attended the six shows in Paris and Lyon represent only 0.43% of the French population.

“France regularly hosts major events and has a very well-developed tourism industry and airports, which suggests that the country can accommodate large numbers of domestic and international arrivals,” the researchers wrote in the statement. The country is just weeks away from the start of the Summer Olympics.

But Swift’s upcoming concerts in the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland could drive up prices, as the population of those countries is less than 20 million people, the report said. Swift’s current tour takes her to 51 concerts in 18 European cities.

The Eras tour has had a massive economic impact on other countries. The concerts attract tens of thousands of fans who spend a lot of money on restaurants, accommodations and visiting local attractions. Some Swifties are on the move for hours — and across national borders — to attend a concert.

In the US, where the singer performed 53 concerts, about 600 concertgoers surveyed by QuestionPro said they spent an average of $1,300. Swift was mentioned on conference calls by companies to explain the surge in demand and by the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia, which pointed to record post-pandemic demand for hotels, where she visited.

MBI analysts studying U.S. data found that concertgoers can spend four times the gross price on tickets, which impacts inflation in local economies. In Chicago, Eras’ tour dates resulted in hotel room occupancy of 96.8%, according to the BMI report – an all-time high for the city.

The fanfare can be heard all over the world. Swift is not performing in Italy until mid-July, but the hotels in Milan are already fully booked and occupied.

“Our analysis and data show that hotel prices in Milan for the nights of Taylor Swift’s shows in July 2024 are on average 45% higher than in the weeks before and after the show,” Ben Julius, the founder of a tourism company called Tourist Italy, told Business Insider.

Earlier this year, the Singapore government’s incentives of nearly $3 million per show to get Swift to perform in the city-state sparked controversy and led to an interregional political debate.