A-list stars drive Singapore’s tourism reboot

Live music has been credited with helping to rejuvenate tourism in Singapore ahead of record-setting 2024 tours by Coldplay and Taylor Swift.

The superstar acts will both play six nights at the 55,000-cap Singapore National Stadium next year, with Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour landing from 23-24, 26-27 & 30-31 January, and Swift’s Eras Tour to visit from 2-4 and 7-9 March.

The country has welcomed around 6.3 million international visitors in 2023 so far, putting it on track towards meeting its goal of 12-14m.

“Driving Singapore’s tourism recovery is its smart use of sporting and music events,” says Hannah Pearson, director at travel market research organisation Pear Anderson. “Google searches for accommodation hit peaks every time new concerts were announced and tickets were released.”

With sales exceeding 200,000 Coldplay also broke Singapore’s record for the most tickets sold by an artist in a single day, while Swift’s six shows are her only Eras tour dates in Southeast Asia. A report by SCMP credits the collaboration between the government and the Singapore Sports Hub for succeeding in bringing both blockbuster tours to the stadium.

“This spike in accommodation bookings is a testament to the undeniable lure of live musical experiences”

“This proactive and dynamic approach has enabled us to optimise our venues to deliver top-tier events and maximise our event programming … and to support tourism for Singapore,” says a spokesperson for the Kallang Alive Sport Management, which manages the venue.

Digital travel platform Agoda says the number of hotel searches in Singapore over the dates of Coldplay’s concerts increased by 8.7 times.

“Music inspires a great deal of passion, and dedicated fans are truly remarkable as they will travel far and wide to see their favourite acts live,” says Enric Casals, Agoda’s regional associate vice-president for Southeast Asia. “This spike in accommodation bookings is a testament to the undeniable lure of live musical experiences, showcasing the profound impact they have on travel decisions.”

Meanwhile, it was reported last week that Singapore has seen a massive uptick in concert ticket scams, with reports that consumers have lost at least S$518,000 (€352,000) in the first half of 2023.

This amount is more than 50% higher than in the past five years combined, with S$84,000 lost in 2018; S$66,000 in 2019; S$9,000 in 2020; S$3,000 in 2021; S$175,000 in 2022.

These figures were reported by the minister for home affairs and law (MHA), K. Shanmugam, in response to a question by a member of parliament about the financial toll of such scams over the past five years.

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