World, it's time to come together and thank the women of Hollywood for their service this summer - not just providing much-needed entertainment when the weather failed us, but saving the global economy one hit at a time. From Beyoncé'sRenaissance Tour to Taylor Swift'sEras tour and Greta Gerwig's Barbie,female-led entertainment is practically running summer 2023 - and reportedly the economies of different cities around the world are thanking them for it. The three women-led productions alone have led to a reported billion-dollar spending spree globally, helping local businesses recover after the pandemic.
According to new data from Axios, consumers are prioritising experiences and entertainment over buying things. They're scooping up Barbie tickets and spending extra on all the pink merch. Or forking out money for the best seats at Taylor Swift's Eras tour, and turning a one-night Beyoncé Renaissance concert into a fabulous two-day event with hotel stays and fancy dinners.
As globe-trotting music tours make a comeback in the post-pandemic world, pop icons like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are no longer just music or entertainment figures. With the monumental crowd-pulling abilities of their concerts, these music artists have transcended themselves into economic phenomena capable of majorly affecting consumption in the countries they choose to tour.
The Eras Tour is set to break records as the first tour to cross a billion dollars in ticket sales alone, as reported by Fortune. One report even estimated that the tour would generate $4.6 billion across US local economies, which takes into account extra spending such as accommodations, transportation, and food.
Beyoncé’s economic success has been coined the 'Beyoncé Bump' by Yelp, an online directory for discovering local businesses. It was previously reported that Beyoncé Renaissance concert in Sweden single-handedly impacted the Nordic nation's inflation rate earlier this year. Michael Grahn, Danske Bank’s chief economist in Sweden, said the start of Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour in Stockholm bumped prices. 'Beyoncé’s start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have coloured May inflation, how much is uncertain,' he said on X He continued, 'Probably 0.2 percentage points that hotels [and] restaurants added. We expect this upside surprise to be reversed in June as prices on hotels and tickets reverse back to normal. The hike was in part due to an increase in "a broad set of goods and services, for instance hotel and restaurant visits" and "recreational services" which include concert tickets.'
When Queen Bey came to perform in Tottenham in the UK, she even gave back to local businesses in the area. Chuku’s, a Nigerian Tapas restaurant, was among 500 London businesses that applied for the grant from BeyGOOD’s Black Parade Route Impact fund and won. The $1m fund was created by Beyoncé as part of her current world tour to support small businesses where she performed that have been affected by 'economic inequities.'
Chuku's received £8,000 from the Grammy award-winning singer. Ifeyinwa Frederick, Chuku’s co-owner, told BBC London it was 'just wonderful' to be recognised by the awards team after a 'very challenging few years.' She told the publication, 'Receiving a grant like this is really energising and can have a positive impact to help you keep going, given the challenges we faced, having opened four-and-half weeks before the first lockdown.' They also credited Beyoncé’s arrival, and the festival atmosphere it created, as such a boost to their restaurant. The restaurant was packed throughout the run, including accommodating a special request from fans to extend its opening hours.
Beyoncé Renaissance tour has also spearheaded a cultural movement. As the Grammy-winning singer takes to the stage, concert goers are greeted by a larger-than-life display of the Progress Pride Flag, a symbol of pride that centres some of the most marginalised members of the LGBTQ+ community and elevates their voices. Ballroom culture is celebrated as her dancer's vogue across the stage in dazzling silver costumes. As you look across the crowd you can spot a sea of metallic cowboy hats and boots. The Renaissance tour has not only been an economic success, but it has also elevated the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and started a new 'disco cowboy' aesthetic in the fashion world.
Similarly, The Taylor Swift effect has been real, dubbed Swift-onomics— meaning the economic turbocharge Taylor Swift's 'Eras' tour brings to each city she's performed in. According to Moody's Analytics, the rise of hybrid work during and after the pandemic also means that more fans are more willing to travel out of town to see Swift and book a longer stay.
Traveling to a T-Swift concert is reportedly much easier when you can work from your hotel room. 'The constraints of work are taken away, at least partially,' says Thomas LaSalvia, head of commercial real estate economics at Moody's Analytics. Swifties aren't just spending on hotel rooms and merch, they're dining out, hiring designers and visiting local museums, a recent WSJ story highlighted.
In Singapore, where Taylor will tour early next year, students have already requested the education minister of the country to grant bank holidays on concert days. Acknowledging this, Singapore’s education minister Chan Chun Sing even gave a tongue-in-cheek reply. 'How about this? If any creative and enterprising fan can invite her (or any other A listers just to be fair) to your school to perform free of charge, we can have your school declare a school holiday?! Then everyone gets to enjoy this inclusive concert!,' he said on social media.
Furthermore, in Australia, as tourism numbers fail to reach pre-pandemic levels, the anticipated influx of Swifties is projected to give a boost to the country. Greg Jericho, a policy director at the Centre for Future Work in Australia, noted in his recent column, 'Only holding concerts in Sydney and Melbourne means Swifties will be coming from other states and New Zealand, given there are no concerts to be held there, so that is some export dollars for tourism.'
Economics aside, Swift's Era's tour has provided a safe space for women and girls to freely express themselves.
Taylor Swift even got a shoutout from the US Government's Federal Reserve,for bringing an 'influx of guests' into Philadelphia which contributed to the 'strongest month for hotel revenue' in the city. Similarly, hotels maintained a 96.8% average occupancy rate in the city of Chicago the weekend Swift was in town, reaching an all-time record high, as reported by Fortune. Finally, thanks to two stops to the city on the Eras Tour, tourism was reportedly brought back to pre-COVID levels in Las Vegas for the first time in March.
Economics aside, Taylor's Era's tour has provided a safe space for women and girls to gather and express themselves freely for the night. The tour celebrates and mourns all the 'Era's' women go though in life as they grow up. This Rolling Stone reviewput's it perfectly: 'No matter how many Taylor tours you’ve seen before, there’s something extra about the joy, the craving, the ecstatic release that people bring to this one. She’s had six number one albums since her 2018 Reputation tour, and we’ve got some serious over-feeling to catch up on. The woman behind me who responded to the intro of “All Too Well” by dropping on her knees and spending the entire 10 minutes sobbing in a fetal position, you are my goddamn hero.'
Now, let's talk cinema.Greta Gerwig's Barbie took over the film industry as the Barbie's and Kens of the world boosted the feel-good movie to $1 billion in ticket sales in just 17 days. _Barbie’_s opening weekend made $162 million, ushering in a new era for female-centered movies. Director Greta Gerwig’s film, about the famous plastic doll girls have played with since the 1950s, is now the highest grossing film ever by a female director. While its box office heights are record-breaking, Barbie also drove commerce thanks to its pop culture zeitgeist buzz, which propelled more than 100 companies to jump on the pink bandwagon with branded merchandise.
From haute couture collections to T-shirts and suitcases; Barbie-Mania swept the world this summer. Mattel, the maker of the Barbie doll, even saw shares rise over 20% in the month leading up to the films release. The Barbie-Billion success is direct proof that movies with a female lead can dominate. The movie’s originality is refreshing and empowering at the same time, leaving all women who watch it with a renewed sense of confidence.
We've even witnessed a Barbie and Renaissance tour crossover. During the opening week of Barbie, Beyoncé and her dancers sported all pink on stage. As the spotlights lights flashed, they all paraded across the stage in Beyoncé's athleisure brand Ivy Park featuring a brand new Barbie inspired collection, to coincide with the film's release.
And finally, one can't forget the impact of sport from the Women's World Cup. The 2023 Women’s World Cup has already been hailed as the most successful in history, with a record-breaking 1.4m tickets purchased for the 64 matches, which will culminate with Sunday’s final. Regardless of who wins, the stage is set for history to be made. Neither the Spanish or English women's team have competed in a World Cup final, let alone won the trophy. Across both England's male and female teams, it will be the first World Cup final for our nation since 1966. It’s been an extraordinary tournament in a competition that has been dominated by the USA for decades; and a healthy sign for the women’s game as it continues its remarkable growth. As the Lionessestake to the pitch one last time, we couldn't be prouder of the women we have seen progress female-led sport.
So, at this point it's undeniable: women own summer 2023. From the world of music, to film and sport, they have dominated across the board. If one lesson can be learnt from this monumental success this summer, it's that businesses should bet on women.