Taylor Swift-induced economic boom great news for capital cities, not so good for regions
The regional Victorian city of Ballarat is singing out for the state government to boost support for local tourism, as capital cities bask in the economic afterglow of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
A month on from the pop supernova’s visit to Melbourne and Sydney, runaway beads from Swifties’ friendship bracelets are still being found at the stadiums that hosted the sold-out concerts.
Fans continue to flood social media with video highlights from the three-hour show, with thousands of posts tagged #taylorswiftmelbourne or #taylorswiftsydney.
The lasting economic impression of Swift’s Australian era is clear, evidenced by spending figures across tourism, hospitality, and accommodation sectors during her visit.
According to NAB, Swift’s seven concerts helped generate more than $300 million for the Australian economy.
But for regional and rural areas in Victoria, it’s been less of a love story of late.
Tough times for Ballarat tourism
Commerce Ballarat chief executive Jodie Gillett said local tourism is experiencing a downturn as ongoing cost-of-living pressures lead people to prioritise city-centric marquee events, such as the Eras Tour.
“So many people spent a lot of money on that special event, then that meant they had to pull back [spending] in their own regional and rural areas,” Ms Gillett said.
City of Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said it was too early to tell if the run of tragedies in the city in 2024, including the disappearance of Samantha Murphy and a fatal mine collapse, is driving away visitors.
Regardless, the mayor said there was a need for a funding boost to regional and rural areas from the state government.
“Don’t forget about the importance of regional cities and rural communities as well,” he said.
Swift example of sacrificed spending
RMIT University associate professor of finance Angel Zhong said concerns from Cr Hudson and Ms Gillett were “valid”.
“The Taylor Swift concerts can be a contributing factor, but I wouldn’t say it is the dominant factor,” Dr Zhong said.
“The decline of regional tourism, if any, is driven by a large number of factors.”
Among those factors, Dr Zhong said, was the cost-of-living crisis and what she described as “the substitution effect”.
“In order to save up for moments, like seeing Tay Tay, some fans made financial sacrifices in other areas,” she said.
“For example, you can buy cheaper tomato sauce by buying home brand, but you can’t buy a home-brand Taylor Swift concert.”
Dr Zhong expected this substitution effect would persist for “the foreseeable future”, as the country continued to grapple with the impact of 2023’s five interest rate hikes.
Incentive needed
Cr Hudson said he would “absolutely support” an expansion to the state government’s $28 million travel voucher scheme for regional Victoria, which was part of its COVID-19 recovery fund.
“If there can be some incentive provided by the government, that would be a good thing,” he said.
Rural Councils Victoria chair, Mary-Ann Brown, echoed the mayor’s call.
“I think it would be certainly worth considering because it did provide a real up-kick in regional areas,” Cr Brown said.
“There are people dealing with cost-of-living pressures, so [a travel voucher] may be sufficient to make them stay, ‘Yes, we will take that short stay.'”
In a statement, a Victorian government spokesperson would not be drawn on an expansion to the vouchers program, but said it was aware regional businesses had been through “enormous challenges in recent years”.
“We’re working in partnership with industry and communities to deliver our Experience Victoria 2033 strategy — a road map to support them through current and future challenges and to maximise opportunities from our ongoing investment in the sector,” the spokesperson said.
The Experience Victoria 2033 strategy was launched last May and is a 10-year plan.
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