Will Lady Gaga's Singapore Concert Match the Taylor Swift Effect?

Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated return to Singapore is likely to set off a travel surge, with fans from across Asia and beyond scrambling to secure flights, hotels, and concert tickets.

The four-show run at the Singapore National Stadium, scheduled for May 18, 19, 21, and 24, marks her first performance in the city-state in 13 years and the only stop in Asia for her Mayhem Tour.

The frenzy surrounding the concerts has already led to a 202% spike in hotel bookings for the week of May 18 to 24, compared to the same period last year, according to Trip.com.

The travel company anticipates that the number of bookings will increase once more fans are able to secure tickets to the concerts closer to May.

Meanwhile, data shared with Skift from Booking.com also shows a 16% increase in accommodation searches in the week following the tour announcement.

The top five global markets that searched for Singapore as a destination during the period of Gaga’s Singapore tour (May 17-25 May) were Australia, India, United Kingdom, Taiwan and the Philippines.

The surge in interest is reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking impact on Singapore’s tourism economy in March 2024. But can Gaga’s concerts replicate the same economic boost?

Skift calls this phenomenon "live tourism," and the latest Megatrends report forecasts that this year will mark its unstoppable rise.

Hotel and Flight Bookings Rocket

According to Trip.com, the week of Lady Gaga’s concert has seen a 76% higher number of hotel bookings compared to the following week.

Trip.com’s data revealed that international interest is surging, particularly from fans in China, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Budget-conscious travelers are dominating the trend, with 38% of accommodation searches focused on 3-star hotels and below, significantly higher than usual.

“Event tourism is a huge catalyst for travel around the world, and we believe the entire travel ecosystem in Singapore — comprising both the public and private sectors — is not just harnessing but also generating such demand in a very meaningful manner,” said Edmund Ong, general manager of Trip.com Singapore.

According to Booking.com, Singaporeans are also fueling demand, turning the concerts into multi-day experiences, with local searches for accommodations increasing by nearly 12%.

Airlines are also benefiting. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts predict Singapore Airlines will see a major revenue boost, particularly in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Taylor Swift’s 2024 concerts pushed inbound flight bookings to holiday-level highs, and analysts expect a similar effect from Gaga’s tour.

Gaga's Only Asian Stop

With over 1.6 million people in the pre-sale queue, Singapore’s authorities have issued warnings against scams, recalling how Taylor Swift’s 2024 concerts resulted in over 1,050 fraud reports and losses exceeding SGD 658,000 ($492,000).

The only 3 authorized platforms for the Gaga concert ticket sales are Ticketmaster, Klook, and KrisFlyer. However, there have been reports of resale sites and social media platforms flooded with scalpers charging exorbitant prices with some listings on ecommerce platform Carousell reaching SGD 38,888 ($28,391).

However, as of Tuesday, Skift found one listing for a Lady Gaga's May 24 concert ticket for SGD 500 ($374) being sold by a user in Carousell.

The Taylor Swift Effect

Taylor Swift’s six-night sold-out concert run in Singapore, between March 2 and March 9 last year, is often touted a masterclass in event-driven tourism.

The city-state saw 1.48 million visitor arrivals and experts projected tourism receipts of SGD 500 million ($373.5 million).

In the first week of March, Changi Airport reported a 20% increase in arrival traffic compared to the same week in 2023. Hotels saw a 19% occupancy gain over the six nights, with about 70% of concert attendees flying in from other countries. Singapore Airlines reported an 88% load factor, one of its highest non-holiday peaks.

The Key Difference?

Singapore’s government reportedly paid up to SGD 3 million ($2.2 million) to secure Swift’s exclusive Southeast Asian shows. However, Singapore reportedly gave no such grants for the Gaga concert.

Edwin Tong, Singapore's minister for culture, community and youth, told parliament this month, "No government grants were given to secure Lady Gaga's concerts in Singapore."

He said Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), the company managing the Singapore Sports Hub, handled the negotiations.