KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore attracted more than one million visitors to its Sports Hub in the first three months of this year, driven by concerts from A-list acts.
According to The Straits Times, concerts alone – featuring Coldplay and Mayday in January, Ed Sheeran in February, and Taylor Swift in March – drew a combined total of around 840,000 visitors.
This number surpasses the 700,000 visitors recorded in the second half of 2023.
Coldplay was estimated to have brought in over 200,000 fans over six shows in January, while Swift drew more than 300,000 fans to her six shows in March.
Estimates by private-sector analysts quoted by The Straits Times suggest these large-scale concerts could have generated tourism receipts of between $350 million and $450 million.
Singapore's Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Edwin Tong said the economic impact Singapore witnessed is on track to meet these projections.
"The numbers are probably in the ballpark of the private sector estimates... subject to the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) evaluations, we're probably around there," he said, as quoted by the news portal.
From January to April, Singapore had 5.7 million international visitors, with a peak of 1.48 million in March, according to figures by the STB. This was about 90 per cent of the number during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic.
Singapore's arrival figures then took a hit in April, slipping to 1.36 million visitors. This was also a weaker performance compared to the first two months of the year, which each saw 1.44 million visitors.
Retail sales in Singapore also rose 2.7 per cent in March, according to data from the Department of Statistics, lifted by Swift's Eras Tour performances that month.
Tong added that this is unlike a marquee event such as the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, where the economic impact, while significant, is typically concentrated around high-end hotels and high-end food and beverage offerings.
"Here, you have a trickle-down effect to even the mom-and-pop shops, like the beads and merchandise shops that were sold out during the Taylor Swift concerts," he said, referring to the bead and craft shops that enjoyed a business boost as "Swifties" wiped out shelves of their items to make friendship bracelets to wear and trade at her concerts.
Tong said hotels also saw roaring business, especially since around half the attendees for the Swift concerts were foreigners, whereas for Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars, around 20 per cent were foreigners.
Earnings for hotels climbed, with overall room revenue reaching $493.8 million, up 9.5 per cent from $451.2 million in February, and 37 per cent higher than last year during the same period.