As Australians fork out up to $1250 for a ticket to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, the singer and Ticketek are not the only ones cashing in.
Airlines and hotels have already reported a huge spike in bookings for flights and accommodation in Melbourne and Sydney before tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday.
Unlike previous tours, Swift’s The Eras Tour in February next year is only coming to the country’s two biggest cities, meaning a lot more fans are having to travel to see the star.
Virgin Australia alone saw a whopping 656 per cent increase in bookings to Melbourne and Sydney for Swift’s concert dates after the Frontier pre-sale on Wednesday.
“Swifties based in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are leading the interstate fanfare with the most booked fares across the concert dates,” a Virgin Australia spokeswoman told news.com.au.
“We are really excited to join in the celebrations as Swifties make their way across the country with Virgin Australia.”
Jetstar confirmed to news.com.au it had seen a big rise in demand for flights to Melbourne and Sydney over the concert dates and the airline expects it to only increase further. Qantas confirmed an increase in bookings for the dates too.
Over at online travel agency Webjet, there was a 2767 per cent increase in domestic flights booked to Sydney for the tour dates and 1738 per cent increase in bookings to Melbourne on Wednesday compared to the day before.
The top cities to book flights through Webjet on Wednesday to both Melbourne and Sydney around the tour dates were Brisbane and Adelaide.
But there has not just been a spike in domestic flight bookings.
New Zealanders, who Swift is not scheduled to visit, are unsurprisingly making their way across the ditch.
Travel search engine Skyscanner said Swift’s tour dates have seen the highest spike for New Zealanders booking travel into Australia for next year.
There are 11 times more bookings from New Zealanders around the concert dates in February than the same weeks in January.
Air New Zealand has even added capacity to Australia to cope with the demand.
More surprisingly, South Korean fans appear to be making their way Down Under for Swift.
For the week of Swift’s Melbourne concert, Skyscanner said it was the biggest spike in bookings for South Koreans coming to Australia than any other time next year.
Hilton Melbourne, which is not included in the hotel and ticket packages available through Ticketek, has reported a 9400 per cent increase in bookings around the tour dates since the tour was announced last Wednesday.
At Hilton Sydney, bookings went up 1129 per cent after the tour announcement.
“We’ve witnessed a significant surge in bookings from Swiftie fans planning to stay at our Melbourne and Sydney hotels in February off the back of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour announcement last week,” Hilton’s head of Australasia Paul Hutton said, adding he expected booking volume to jump even further on Friday for the general sale.
When the Frontier pre-sale on Wednesday – which anyone could access if they signed up for an account with Frontier Touring – sold out of general tickets, some Swifties then snapped up hotel packages just to get a ticket.
The Melbourne hotels offered in the packages include The Grand Hyatt, The Langham, Crown Metropol, Crown Promenade, Pullman on the Park, Sofitel on Collins, Movenpick, Element Melbourne Richmond, and Ibis Melbourne Hotel & Apartments.
The Sydney hotels include Four Seasons, Hyatt Regency, Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, Four Points by Sheraton, and Ibis World Square.
The hotels are paired with different ticket types.