Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” talks about “passion tourism”

When Nikita Rao was planning where to go for her family’s annual summer vacation, Taylor Swift’s European tour was the first thing that came to her mind.

Ms. Rao, who lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and her husband and two children left for the trip overseas last weekend. They have tickets to the pop star’s concert in Amsterdam on Thursday.

The family had scheduled a weeklong trip to coincide with the Eras Tour events, spending a few days in London before flying to the Netherlands for the show. They had planned to visit the two cities at some point in the future, but the Swift concert expedited their plans, said Rao, 43, who also saw the Cincinnati show with his daughter last year.

“My thought was, we should go to London and Amsterdam because she’s there,” Rao said. “If I could get tickets, the whole vacation would be amazing,” she said of her thoughts.

The Raos are not alone.

Travel experts say Americans are flocking overseas to see Taylor Swift in what may be the most notable recent example of so-called “passion tourism.”

Passion tourism (naturally) revolves around people’s passions: While location is typically important, experts say such trips are typically driven by personal interests, hobbies, or cultural events.

This is not a new concept, and in fact there are many recent and upcoming examples, such as the annual Carnival festival held in February in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the total solar eclipse in North America in April, the 2024 Paris Olympics starting this month, and the UEFA European Football Championship (known as the Euro Cup) currently taking place in Germany.

“Memorable events, whether concerts or sporting events, are driving travel trends,” Mastercard recently said in its annual travel trends report.

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But what sets a Taylor Swift concert apart in the passion tourism realm, travel agents say, is the interest and enthusiasm it generates among Americans wanting to travel abroad.

“I never thought traveling to see artists could be so much fun,” said Jessica Griscavage, travel advisor and founder of Runway Travel.

The closest recent example to that would be a Spice Girls concert in the 1990s, she said.

Griscavage, who put together the Rao family’s itinerary, also planned a separate Swift-focused trip to Paris for her daughter, mother and grandmother.

More than half of Americans, 53%, identify themselves as Taylor Swift fans, according to a Morning Consult poll, with about 16% considering themselves “crazy” fans.

“Beyoncé is a big name, but we don’t typically get requests like, ‘I’ve got a ticket for Beyoncé to Europe, and I want to plan my trip around that,'” says Sofia Markovic, travel advisor and founder of Sofia’s Travel.

She arranged travel for two American clients who had tickets to Taylor Swift concerts in Britain and Switzerland, respectively.

“Just as Grateful Dead fans are known for following the band from city to city and becoming part of a unique community, Swifties are making bringing friends and family to her concerts part of the experience,” Joshua Friedlander, vice president of research for the U.S. Travel Association, recently wrote about the so-called “Swift Lift.”

About 15.9 million Americans took international trips in the first quarter of 2024, the highest number ever, according to Mastercard’s travel report. Consumer travel spending is also reaching record levels globally, the company said.

Experts say passion tourism generally provides an economic boost to the host country.

For example, a Mastercard study found that tourists spent 156% more at restaurants, bars and grocery stores during Rio’s 2024 Carnival than usual, and during the solar eclipse, hotel sales in the U.S. within the eclipse radius increased by 71%.

According to a recent analysis by Barclays, about 1.2 million fans plan to see Taylor Swift in concert in four UK cities this summer (Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London), spending an average of 848 GBP (about $1,073) per fan on tickets, travel, accommodation, costumes and other expenses, totalling 997 million GBP (about $1.3 billion), Barclays estimates.

According to Barclays analysis, accommodation is the second biggest expense after tickets, followed by travel.

A recent analysis found that searches for Airbnb stays in European cities during Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” increased by nearly 70% compared to the same period in 2023.

Rome and Paris are traditionally among the most popular international destinations for Americans, but it’s “inevitable” that Swift fans will visit cities like Edinburgh that they might have missed before, said Chris Nulty, Airbnb’s head of global corporate communications and public affairs.

Nulty said that after tickets went on sale for his Edinburgh concerts last year, searches for accommodation in the city by Americans increased by 500%.

The concerts combine “the opportunity to travel to an amazing place with the chance to see some of my favorite artists,” he said.

Experts say household budgets for ticket sales also likely play a role: Some Taylor Swift fans, who were shut out of the U.S. market by ticket prices, may find it cheaper overall (or at comparable prices) to buy tickets and top up travel expenses for an overseas concert.

“Resale tickets in Europe are much more affordable than in the U.S.,” said Travel Advisor’s Griscavage.

“I think it’s going to be really exciting to see her perform in cities outside of the U.S.,” she added. “It’s a fun opportunity and people are willing to pay money to see her.”