CELEBRITIES
Taylor Swift fans are causing a spike in European air travel, with United saying demand is up 25%
taylor Swift fans desperate to see the superstar’s Eras Tour are causing a spike in European air travel, United Airlines has revealed.
Demand for travel to Lisbon, Portugal, and Madrid, Spain, over the Memorial Day weekend has shot up by around 25 percent compared to last year, it said.
This surge is expected to continue over the summer as American fans flock to European cities – where concert tickets are significantly cheaper than for domestic tour dates.
Swift tickets in the typically cost more than $1,000 due to high demand and limited rules on reselling. In Europe, rules are much stricter.
Milan has seen the biggest surge in United passengers this summer – with demand up 45 percent for Swift’s show in July compared to last year.
including Dublin and Edinburgh, are also surging, the airline said.
Many American fans are finding it cheaper to travel to see the singer overseas – even when the cost of flights and accommodation is factored in.
This is due, in part, to European Union regulations which cap the amount of money ticket resellers are able to make – and a strong dollar.
For example, secondary market tickets for the concert in Stockholm, Sweden, earlier this month were as little as $300 the week before the show, CNN reported.
A roundtrip flight from New York to Stockholm costs an average of $700, according to travel site Kayak, and a four-star hotel costs around $300.
That is compared to shows in Miami last year where tickets alone were going for as much as $8,500 on resale site StubHub.
The willingness to travel is likely not to come as a surprise to Swift fans, who are notoriously dedicated to the star.
The American leg of the worldwide Eras Tour last summer generated an estimated $5 billion in consumer spending for the US economy – as fans travelled across the country to see the show.
One fan who travelled from the UK to see the concert in Paris earlier this month told DailyMail.com the majority of the audience were Americans.
Delta Air Lines also told CNN that demand is up for American fans travelling to see Swift’s European tour.
