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Taylor Swift: A musical extravaganza or Christmas for business?
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour made headlines even before it began — by overwhelming booking platform Ticketmaster and drawing attention even from the U.S. Senate.
The money and impact on travel was a big story too: Ticket sales alone were expected to generate $590 million within the U.S. In Chicago, hotels had a 97% occupancy with over 44,000 rooms occupied. Some studies found that demand for workers in the vicinity of a stadium can reach close to 10 times normal levels.
But what did Taylor Swift’s tour do for short-term rentals in the U.S.? We dug through data from Beyond Pricing, KeyData and AirDNA.
“High level, when the STR industry has revenue falling, Taylor is literally a windfall almost everywhere she goes. Entire cities see double-digit increases in occupancy and ADRs, with the mid-tier cities like Pittsburgh, PA, benefiting the most,” said Jeff Breece, director of revenue management at Beyond Pricing.
Beyond Pricing
Beyond found that the top performing markets in terms of occupancy were: Kansas City, MO, Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA. And the ones that did well in terms of daily rates were: Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, IL and Tampa, FL.
| Market | Date | Occupancy YoY | ADR YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | March 17 | -2.6% | 5.4% |
| Philadelphia, PA | March 18 | -3.1% | -17.3% |
| Philadelphia, PA | May 12 | 25.8% | 17.0% |
| Las Vegas, NV | March 24 | 8.0% | -8.2% |
| Dallas, TX | March 31 | 19.0% | 8.4% |
| Tampa, FL | April 13 | 12.8% | 24.6% |
| Houston, TX | April 21 | 13.8% | 3.8% |
| Atlanta, GA | April 28 | 7.8% | -1.2% |
| Nashville, TN | May 5 | 19.3% | 12.3% |
| Worcester, MA | May 19 | 9.0% | 12.2% |
| Newark, NJ | May 26 | 10.0% | -1.8% |
| Chicago, IL | June 2 | 6.4% | 34.7% |
| Detroit, MI | June 9 | 17.6% | 3.8% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | June 16 | 25.0% | 51.5% |
| Minneapolis, MN | June 23 | 10.9% | 9.9% |
| Cincinnati, OH | June 30 | 22.6% | 14.7% |
| Kansas City, MO | July 7 | 28.0% | 3.3% |
| Denver, CO | July 14 | 11.5% | 4.8% |
| Seattle, WA | July 22 | 4.5% | -2.4% |
| South Bay, CA | July 28 | 8.5% | -4.6% |
| Los Angeles, CA | August 3 | -5.9% | 9.2% |
| Los Angeles, CA | August 8 | 0.6% | 2.5% |
KeyData
According to KeyData , RevPAR grew by 88% annually attributable Swift’s Eras Tour.
The 20 cities that hosted the Eras tour saw revenue per available room go up by 28% and occupancies by 12%.
AirDNA
According to data from AirDNA, the total revenue impact from Taylor Swift was $27.3 million in the United States. Los Angeles ($6.5 million), Nashville ($3.8 million), and Phoenix ($2.7 million) saw the most significant revenue lifts, driven in large part by greater demand for short-term rental stays but also by higher average daily rates (ADRs). The most subtle revenue impacts were seen in San Jose-Santa Clara ($160,000) and Jersey City-Newark ($189,000).
Swift’s fandom is large enough that hosts in most cities didn’t need to raise prices. There was enough demand to go around filling rooms.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a KeyData estimate for the Eras Tour contribution to the short-term rental industry.
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Tags: short-term rentals, taylor swift, vacation rentals
Photo credit: Taylor Swift performed at Gillette Stadium in May as part of the US Era's Tour. Source: Stephen Mease/Unsplash Stephen Mease / Taylor Swift performed at Gillette Stadium in May as part of the US Era's Tour.