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Just how much is Taylor Swift's tour helping businesses? Find out here

Friday, July 28, 2023

Just how much is Taylor Swift's tour helping businesses?

Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour stop in Santa Clara has created buzz since being announced and it has already led to great economic benefits in the city.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- Friday, the Taylor Swift Eras Tour rolls into Levi's Stadium for a two-day concert event.

WATCH LIVE FRIDAY: Counting down to Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour at Levi's Stadium

It has created buzz since first being announced and it has already led to great economic benefits in the city of Santa Clara.

It's no secret that this part of Santa Clara is no stranger to visitors with 49ers games and Great America theme park goers.

But experts say major concerts like this one and Beyoncé in August are on another level and the economic impact across the country is expected to be in the billions from this tour alone.

VIDEO: Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour at Levi's Stadium: Everything you need to know before you go

Taylor Swift fans are now allowed to bring friendship bracelets to The Eras Tour concert at Levi's Stadium after a controversial ban.

Fans lined up for hours to get merchandise from the official tour truck and it's not the first time they have spent money on this tour stop.

Taylor Swift is driving spending in the South Bay.

"She's a stimulus package to all of these cities that she has come to visit," Santa Clara City Councilmember Kathy Watanabe said.

"It has actually been unprecedented for us," Discover Santa Clara CEO Christine Lawson said. "The moment the concert was announced that it would be at Levi's Stadium, the phones rang off the hook at our hotels."

MORE: Why you can't sit outside Levi's Stadium to listen to Taylor Swift without a ticket

Hotels in the area have been completely sold out for weeks.

Lawson says the Elton John show last year, the Eras Tour this weekend and an upcoming Beyoncé concert are huge for the city.

"We're bringing all these people here for these specific events, but it's also that added exposure," Lawson said. "As part of the event, as an ancillary offshoot, they're exploring the city."

A nationwide survey from QuestionPro showed that Taylor Swift concertgoers are spending more than $1,000 per event in tickets, food, hotels and other purchases per show.

VIDEO: Thousands of Swifties wait for hours for merchandise ahead of Levi's Stadium shows

With the first fans camping out near the stadium since midnight, Swifties waited up to 10 hours for the official Taylor Swift merchandise truck to open Thursday. But they say it was all worth it.

The survey found that the Eras Tour will have generated an estimated $5 billion in national economic impact for hotels and restaurants.

"Some of these hotels are really struggling and are otherwise might go out of business," San Jose State University Chair of the Economics Department Prof. Matthew Holian said. "So, that helps with the property tax base in terms of taxes on the rooms. It's going to help the city increase tax revenue."

Holian says the overall economy doesn't necessarily benefit, however, because money being spent in concert-related areas means money isn't going to other areas like banking.

But, he says it's important that the hotel and restaurant industries get this boost after a tough few years of COVID.

"We try to be agnostic and not think about one sector as more important than another as economists," Holian said. "But, just as a member of society, I do think it's great that we're getting those sectors that are dealing with in-person entertainment a big boost right now."

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