The Summer Olympics only happens every four years, and draws sports fans from across the world to one location. You might think, then, that this would be the equivalent of a license to print money for various hospitality companies — after all, international travelers arriving in, say, Paris for the Summer Games are going to need to somewhere to stay.
And yet according to the head of one prominent hotel chain, there’s another event that’s in the gold medal spot when it comes to being lucrative for them — and it has nothing to do with feats of athletic skill.
To hear Hyatt Hotels Corp CEO Mark Hoplamazian tell it, it’s Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour that’s been the real money-maker for his company’s properties as of late. As Hotels‘ David Eisen reported, Hoplamazian revealed that information at this year’s Bank of America 2024 Gaming & Lodging Conference.
“[Swift] had a much bigger impact on Hyatt than the Olympics in Paris did,” Hoplamazian said at the event.
He also cited the phenomenon of Swift fans avoiding inflated ticket prices in the U.S. by flying elsewhere in the world to see the Eras tour. “There is a Taylor Swift effect because it was cheaper to go take a flight to Europe and see Taylor Swift than it was to get tickets sometimes for the concerts in the United States,” said Hoplamazian.
Swift v. Ticketmaster: From Eras to the DOJ
The legal dogfight and the fate of live musicLast year, CNN reported on the number of hotels that saw unforseen demand for rooms as a result of Swift’s tour dates; earlier this year, Rolling Stone cited data from Expedia to demonstrate how Swift’s tour itinerary has shaped travel planning. But the Hyatt CEO’s comments serve as confirmation from the hospitality industry itself — and leaves open the question of whether any other pop culture phenomenon can have a similar economic impact.
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