Taylor Swift’s three-day Eras Tour stop in Vancouver generated an economic impact far beyond that of other concert or sporting events in the city and possibly rivals the 2010 Winter Games, says the head of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
It’s one of a number of record achievements the superstar collected during her worldwide tour.
Telecommunications giant Rogers said data used during the last show was enough to stream Swift’s entire music catalogue 9,450 times.
It said in a statement that fans on the company’s network set a Canadian record when they used more than 11 terabytes of mobile data in just a few hours at B.C. Place.
The company said Monday that is the equivalent of uploading 307,000 photos and 2,180 hours of video streaming.
That Swift milestone on Dec. 8 exceeded the previous record set Nov. 21, when fans at her concert in Toronto used 7.4 terabytes of data on the Rogers network.
After performances spanning two years and 19 countries, pop superstar Taylor Swift wraps up her wildly successful Eras Tour with one last show in Vancouver.
Ian Tostenson, CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said Monday that his group estimates there was a $25 million boost for Metro Vancouver’s establishments for each of the three days that Swift’s concerts rocked B.C. Place Stadium.
In comparison, a sold-out, highly anticipated Vancouver Canucks playoff game brings an estimated $3 million a day in economic impact, Tostenson said.
Music industry publication Pollstar also said Monday that Swift’s 149-show worldwide tour brought in $2.2 billion US in its run of almost two years.
“In the context of comparing to anything else, it’s not even believable almost — it’s such a huge impact,” Tostenson said. “I was out a little bit on Friday and Saturday, and every place I went to was absolutely lined up and packed.”
Tostenson said the concerts also rivalled the Olympics in drawing fans from regions far beyond what a typical playoff hockey game would, and while it is difficult to compare the 2010 Winter Games to Taylor Swift weekend, the events are in the same magnitude in daily impacts to restaurants.
“The financial impact of the Olympics was massive, [but] it was spread out over a couple weeks in different venues and stuff,” he said. “So, you didn’t sort of feel this concentration that you saw with Taylor Swift.”
Tostenson also said Swifties bumped up business across Metro Vancouver all weekend, with one major restaurant owner with multiple locations reporting reaching full capacity not just at its downtown location but also in North Vancouver and at the Olympic Village.
He credits the festive mood brought to the city by fans that had an emotional effect on people in general, which in turn has a major impact on restaurants, an industry built largely on discretionary spending.
People consume more when the mood is right, he noted.
“From a financial point of view, the Olympics probably had a bigger impact,” Tostenson said. “But … I’m going to venture to estimate that this, on a daily basis compared to the Olympics, was stronger.”
Swift told the 60,000 fans in B.C. Place at Sunday’s show that they were part of a tour seen by 10 million people, and that it was the most thrilling chapter of her life to date.
She said the legacy of the tour will be “a space of joy and togetherness and love” that the fans have created.
Pop sensation Taylor Swift took to the stage for the final night of her record-breaking Eras Tour in Vancouver on Dec. 8.
Swiftie Alaina Robertson echoed Swift’s sentiments after the show, saying she shed lots of tears watching the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Robertson — who travelled from Camas, Wash., for the show and wore a “Reputation” inspired outfit along with a temporary silver bedazzled snake tattoo — said she doesn’t think any other concert will be able to compare.
“It’s going to be hard to beat,” she said of the show.
“She’s changing the world of music. She’s changing entertainment entirely, and to be at the tour with the crowd here, getting to do the friendship bracelets, getting to get dressed up — it’s just love and joy and friendship, and it’s been really magical to be a part of it.”
Fan accounts on social media platform X have posted photos showing a number of television and music stars at B.C. Place Sunday night, including actors Jenna Fischer, Aubrey Plaza and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as well as Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
