After helping boost the US economy with The Eras Tour, her record-breaking series of worldwide shows, Taylor Swift is now spreading her influence across Europe.
A report by online travel booking company eDreams Odigeo says Swift's fans, known as Swifties, are spurring massive air travel demand to Europe.
Swift is performing multiple stadium tours between May and August, starting with Paris on May 9 and concluding in London on August 20.
Demand for flights to Stockholm between May 17 and 19, when the star is due to perform, has jumped six-fold from the same period a year ago, eDreams says. Meanwhile, demand for flights to Warsaw, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Paris on the days around Swift's concerts jumped 339 per cent, 176 per cent, 133 per cent and 108 per cent, respectively.
Transatlantic demand has risen the most, the Barcelona-based company says, suggesting strong interest from American Swifties in the European performances.
Besides the top five cities, demand has risen in cities such as Zurich, Lyon, Milan, Amsterdam, Vienna and Madrid, where Taylor will also perform.
This unusual pattern reflects Swift's influence on the music scene and her substantial economic impact. Her positive effect on the US economy has been dubbed "Swiftonomics", a term coined to describe her big-spending fanbase who are willing to pay over the odds on tickets, hotels, merchandise and other auxiliary costs in the cities she performs in.
Her gravitas is likely to be a welcome boost to many across the continent, which has been battling to avoid a recession following the widespread economic downturn.
The pop star concluded the first US leg of The Eras Tour in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium in August last year, where her six-night residency delivered a $320 million boost to Los Angeles County's GDP and $160 million in local earnings, a report from the California Centre for Jobs showed.
The Eras Tour was projected to have a $5 billion economic impact on the US, according to software company QuestionPro. That would produce a GDP larger than 50 countries.
It is also Swift's first stadium tour since 2018 and her most expansive yet, with 151 shows across five continents. It will conclude in Vancouver on December 8.
The Eras Tour surpassed $1 billion in revenue in December, making it history's highest-grossing music tour, according to Guinness World Records.
Swift released an accompanying film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, in October 13, which recently became the highest-grossing concert film of all-time, earning $261.6 million worldwide. It received acclaim from critics and has also been nominated for multiple awards.
Swift was also Spotify's most-streamed artist last year with more than 26.1 billion streams since January 1. In recognition of her impact, Time magazine named her their Person of the Year in December.
Agencies contributed to this report
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
