With tens of thousands of tourists descending upon Singapore for big name acts like Taylor Swift and Coldplay, the island state is fast establishing itself as a regional concert destination
Singapore’s Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Edwin Tong says concert tourism “is a growth area that we can tap into” and one that has “unlocked a potential that was latent previously”.
In an interview with the national daily Straits Times, he noted that the advent of streaming services means music acts have to tour as streaming generates only a fraction of what album sales used to do 10 to 15 years ago.
“When you analyse the travel patterns of the major Western acts, they’re very much focused on touring Europe and United States, [markets] already very saturated, whereas in Asia, as we have seen, the demand is there with more acts coming [to the region] for more nights… there is headroom for growth,” he said.
Coldplay was estimated to have brought in over 200,000 fans to the National Stadium over six shows in January, while Swift drew more than 300,000 fans during her six shows in March.
Though Singapore’s government will not confirm the number, then Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin was quoted saying Singapore paid the US artist US$3 million to exclusively secure her six-show tour, locking out neighbouring countries. Mr. Tong told the Straits Times such subsidies will be doled out sparingly for future acts.
Reports in Singapore’s media estimate the Swift and Coldplay concerts injected up to S$450 million into the Singapore economy, bringing high international visitor arrivals, high hotel occupancy rates and tourism revenue.
It should, however, be noted that such figures are difficult to estimate accurately as they are based on assumptions not quantifiable data.
Ed Sheeran commanded a crowd of 60,000 for his one-day show on Feb 16 – a record for the National Stadium that was broken a few weeks later by Swift on one night, which drew close to 63,000.
Other Asian countries are lining up to become concert venues
With millions in tourism revenue to capture, other countries in Asia are not resting on their laurels. Several large-scale venues in the region are set to open in the coming years.
These include the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong, which comprises a 50,000-seat stadium, 10,000-seat indoor sports centre and 5,000-seat public sports ground. The venue is aiming for a 2025 opening.
The 15,000-capacity Bangkok Arena, built by Thai retailer The Mall Group and sports and live entertainment company AEG, is slated for a 2026 opening.
Main Image: Taylor Swift Instagram
