How will Taylor Swift’s concert affect New Orleans’ economy? | Entertainment/Life

Pop superstar Taylor Swift will rake in billions of dollars from the Eras Tour by the end of the 152-show tour in December.

But Swift and her team aren’t the only ones benefiting.

The Eras Tour has boosted local economies everywhere, and New Orleans hospitality leaders expect the three shows at Caesars Superdome Oct. 25-27 to be a boon for restaurants, hotels and other tourism-dependent businesses in the area will be a city.

With concert weekend still about a month away, restaurants are preparing Swiftie-style menus, retailers are stocking up on outfits specifically for fans, and other businesses and venues are looking for ways to generate excitement and cash. While local fans will undoubtedly be in attendance, signs point to an influx of visitors eager to take advantage of their last chance to see Swift before the tour ends.

Hotel room prices have skyrocketed and Southwest Airlines has added nonstop flights from Austin, Baltimore, Dallas and San Antonio for the weekend.

“We don’t count our chickens before they hatch, but we expect a big impact,” said Evan Holmes, the general manager of the Caesars Superdome, where about 55,000 people will be together each night of the concert. “There are only five ways left for people to see this tour unless it adds more dates, so all the people who have been banned from other shows have been trying to buy tickets. We were one of the cities with the highest demand.”

“Hotels will be sold out”

Hotels are expected to be among the biggest winners of the Swift weekend. A spokesman for New Orleans & Company, the city’s destination sales and marketing organization, said that “hotels in New Orleans and surrounding communities will be sold out,” but it was too early to say whether this weekend a record in room revenue is achieved.

“Demand is in line with our expectations and we are seeing it across the city,” said Jim Cook, general manager of the 1,100-room Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. “She brings an energetic fan base that comes to have a great time.”

An online search and a call to the reservations line revealed that there were no rooms available at the Sheraton on Saturday evening of the concert weekend. A handful of rooms are available Friday night for over $1,000 after taxes and fees. And on Sunday, rooms are available for just over $500. In comparison, a room on Saturday, October 19th costs just over $300.

The pattern is essentially the same at every hotel in the area.

The city and state’s coffers are spared by the overcrowded hotels and high room prices. When guests stay in the city, they pay a hotel tax that is almost 15% of the room rate. The higher the rate, the better the yield. That money is split between the city, the state, the Regional Transit Authority and several other agencies and commissions. Short-term rental guests pay a different tax dedicated to the city’s infrastructure fund and New Orleans & Company, the city’s tourism marketing agency.

“Every visitor that comes in brings their money from somewhere else and leaves it behind,” said Walt Leger of New Orleans & Company. “These tax dollars are everyone’s favorite tax dollars: someone else’s.”

Swifties spend a lot

The Eras Tour began on March 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona and has now visited 46 cities. At each stop, fans spent money on accommodation, food, transportation and experiences. That said, there are plenty of examples of what awaits New Orleans, the smallest city on the tour.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated after the first leg of the tour that each Swiftie spent an average of $1,300 on travel, lodging, food, merchandise and clothing.

According to the California Center for Jobs and Economy, Swift’s six shows in the Los Angeles area increased Los Angeles County’s gross domestic product by $320 million. Employment increased by 3,300 people and local revenue increased by $160 million.

By February, restaurants in the 20 U.S. cities Swift visited generated an additional $100 million in sales, the Robb Report said, citing a Mastercard study. Restaurants within 2.5 miles of Swift’s venues saw a 68% increase in sales per day of the show.

In Cincinnati, the local visitors bureau reported $2.6 million in revenue from the 3,500 downtown hotel rooms during Swift’s performances in June and July.

“It had a much bigger economic impact than we thought it would,” said Joe Pinto of the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, which reported 98% downtown hotel occupancy for the two Swift show nights.

“Two events in one”

Understandably, New Orleans tourism advocates are pleased that the city was one of three U.S. cities included in the 2024 era’s encore list.

The city missed the first leg of the tour due to scheduling conflicts at the Caesar Superdome, which recently completed a $560 million renovation to prepare for the 2025 Super Bowl. The New Orleans shows, announced last August, will take place on a Saints away weekend and just before Halloween. When the first tickets went on sale, they sold out within minutes.

Because of this demand, local tourism boosters expect an economic impact that will be in the same league as Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and even Super Bowl LIX coming to town in February.

New Orleans restaurants are bracing for an influx of customers, especially after a slow summer made more stressful by post-pandemic increases in food, labor and insurance costs.

“Taylornomics, or Swift Lift, whatever you want to call it, is going to be a huge boost for restaurants, and we are ready for it,” said Wendy Waren, SVP of communications for the Louisiana Restaurant Association. “Halloween has become a huge sales driver,” Waren said. “With Swifties set to flood the city, it’s like having two major events in one.”

Themed dining experiences are popping up all over the city.

Commander’s Palace is hosting an “era” menu event featuring menu items from various chefs from the restaurant’s long history.

Miss River Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel is hosting a Taylor Swift-inspired brunch with a live DJ. Tableau in the French Quarter is hosting a “Balcony Brunch” with a friendship bracelet making station and life-size figurines of Taylor Swift and her NFL player boyfriend Travis Kelce.

Countless other restaurants in the city do something similar.

Nonprofits and small businesses benefit

Children’s Hospital New Orleans has raised more than $700,000 to date through the raffle of Taylor Swift Suite tickets purchased from anonymous donors. Other nonprofits, including the Louisiana Children’s Museum, have participated in the drawing.

Meanwhile, small businesses are looking at how they can generate revenue from the concerts.

Kelsey Campion, Fringe+co.’s CEO and “chief sequin officer,” built a series of Swift-inspired selfie stations and hosts events at Howard Avenue Studio, where she designs high-quality, handmade clothing.

Timothy Wegner, manager of Nikki’s French Quarter Halloween Store, said the store knew Swift-inspired looks would be in demand, so it stocked up on options.

“Since there’s no specific Taylor Swift look, we ordered a lot of cowboy hats, sparkly skirts and friendship bracelets, just to have the essentials,” he said.

Golden Goose in Canal Place is selling its high-end distressed sneakers with the option to have them given a Swiftie twist by a local artist. Shoes range from $350 to over $2,000 and custom art starts at $150.

There will be Swift-themed drag shows at the Virgin Hotels in the CBD and at the AllWays Lounge in Marigny. The Paddlewheeler Creole Queen welcomes Swifties for a special cruise.

And in perhaps the biggest Swiftie event outside the Superdome’s gleaming aluminum walls, superfan Rebecca Fox is hosting an unofficial Eras Convention all weekend at a downtown Holiday Inn.

Leger said all of these efforts represent a major victory for the city.

“We will have the same economic impact, if not more, than the other major events we host,” he said. “And after Taylor Swift, we’ll have the Super Bowl in February and Mardi Gras in March. I hope that being at the center of global events over these five months will lead to other business for us.”