Do you remember Fernanda Number Six, the Mexican fan of Harry Styles who became a symbol of the former One Direction's Italian concerts? Her story had amused half the nation. A globetrotter to follow her favorite pop star, ours had become popular after a TG1 report went viral on social media. In the clip they were shouting her name: “Fernanda number six!”. They were calling her because they were taking roll call. That's right: for these big concerts, it's not enough to just stand in line, there's also a compulsory school moment in which, at various times of the day, they call you. If you're there, good, otherwise you lose your place.
soon it will be a year since the most iconic event at a concert, namely the birth of Fernanda number six and the respective twitter memes
you have to be there pic.twitter.com/Tpkc1uw6bh
— g (@zendayal0vebot) June 21, 2024
In a few days, maybe we will meet a new Fernanda thanks to Taylor Swift, fingers crossed. Less than a week and the Eras Tour will arrive in our country with two super sold out dates at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
In the past few weeks, some signs had already appeared on how to get in line. It seems they were fake, but it seems that fans are organizing themselves on Telegram (don't ask us what the system is, we only know that if Poste Italiane made it, everyone can do it). Unofficial mechanisms that, I say from the outside, seem to me to have the sole purpose of adding anxiety to a moment of leisure, but that's how it is. While waiting to see the queues in the flesh, it's right to take stock of everything that the concerts of the biggest pop star in the world will cause in our cities. We've read everything: Taylor Swift increases GDP, inflation, immune defenses. Every day we are inundated with press releases and communications from brands that try to jump on the bandwagon. But what's true? Let's start with the houses.
According to the latest data sent by Airbnb, globally, bookings made in 2023 and the first months of 2024 to come to Milan during Taylor Swift's 2024 tour have grown by over 250% compared to the same period last year. This can be read in an email sent by their press office (this data concerns the nights booked to travel to Milan in July 2024 compared to the nights booked the previous year). The note goes on to explain that more than one in four bookings comes from the United States, with an increase of almost 600% of US tourists in Milan compared to the same period in July 2023 (the concert organizer D'Alessandro & Galli estimates that 30% of tickets for San Siro were sold abroad, 14% in the United States). And here another big question arises: why on earth should US fans come to the Italian dates? Because, incredibly, it costs less.
And yes, we are counting the flight, the hotel and some Duomo-shaped magnets. A CNN study explains it well, according to which, traveling from New York to Sweden to see Swift would cost around $1,300. This includes $300 for the concert ticket, $700 for the round-trip flight and another $300 for a night in a four-star hotel (at this point there would also be the fee for the Abba Museum, but we understand that not everyone has enough taste). Not a low figure, of course, but still less than the cost of tickets in the States which, between secondary ticketing and dynamic pricing, you pay no less than $2,000 (and up).
ANSA is more cautious. According to the Agency, which reports data from Confcommercio Milano, from 12 to 14 July hotel occupancy increased by +4% while short-term rentals increased by +11%. And then there are the means of transport: according to a study conducted by Trainline, an app for purchasing train and bus tickets, the routes connecting Milan with Naples and Rome practically doubled, with an increase of 117% and 92% respectively, in the number of passengers during the week of the concert, compared to the previous week. Data that tells us that when Taylor arrives in the city it means only one thing: in addition to her, a lot of money is also arriving in the city. You don't have to be an economist to understand this, even if you do have to be an economist to be able to read all the news that talk about the star's impact on the economy, between real and inflated data. And then there are at least two new terms that have been added to the vocabulary of those who are dealing with it: Swiftinflation and Swiftonomics.
The first is the effect that all the consumption related to the concert (the ones we saw before, transportation, hotels, food) have on inflation. The demand for services generated by the European tour could increase prices, thus influencing the inflation rate of each country. Especially in a summer of major events such as the Olympics, European Championships and so on. According to a series of analysts consulted by the economic news agency CNBC, the economic impact of Taylor's concerts in the United Kingdom could temporarily increase the inflation of services by 30%. Contacted by CNBC, the Bank of England did not want to comment on the analysts' forecasts. Take this as a bad sign.
The second term is Swfitonomics, a term coined after the Eras Tour would have influenced the economy of the States where it took place. Starting from the USA, where it became the tour with the highest grossing ever recorded (over a billion) and where fans flocked to the cities hosting the concerts to spend money on accommodation, food, transportation, friendship bracelets and smile cakes. So yes to an increase in inflation, but yes also to an increase in turnover and some even claim GDP (the gross domestic product, which to put it simply is the sum of goods and services produced by a country in a given period of time).
An article from the Courier talks about the growth of US GDP in the second quarter. Driving the value are “consumer spending which rose by 1.6% driven by vacations, restaurants and concert tickets”. Which concerts, in your opinion? “The Taylor Swift factor is particularly important. The 137-concert tour in five continents is in fact a driver for US GDP. Taylor Swift's entire US tour could generate a total expenditure of 4.6 billion dollars, more than the GDP of 35 countries”, declared the research center Common Sense Institute.
Great enthusiasm that, however, someone wants to curb. The British news agency Reuters has published a research that goes against the trend according to which Swiftonomics is not something real. The site uses the city of Stockholm as an example, as before, where about 180,000 fans attended three Swift shows in May, generating something like 850 million kronor ($81 million) in revenue for the city. “An extra revenue that is a great boost for Stockholm and especially for its tourism sector on the weekend,” says Carl Bergkvist, chief economist of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. “But it is just that: a weekend, with no visible or significant impact on overall economic growth. Is there a Taylor Swift effect? It is extremely small and temporary, at best.” Go and tell that to the paninari outside San Siro.
But then someone should do the math even when Vasco plays. If Taylor with two San Siros (130 thousand people) does all this, then he with seven? That is, the number of people he moves is three times as much. They will spend less, they will sleep less in the city, ok, but if math is not an opinion we should have the GDP of Dubai. Maybe, simply, no one does the math because he is an Italian artist?
But the Swift effect, or at least the one that every brand tries to tell, doesn't end here. Because the pop star would also intrude into the most intimate sides of our lives. According to the umpteenth press release, the dating app Bumble would have registered a 492% increase in the number of people in Italy who have Taylor Swift among their favorite artists, a function that helps users identify other fans of the pop star and why not, go out with them. But is there a real equation between being a Swiftie and having more dates? No, and we blame the umpteenth invented term, this time Swiftfishing, which refers to when people pretend to be interested in the singer-songwriter's music just to intercept her fans and “make an impression”. We'll stop here, it's becoming a topic for psyche specialists.
The latest is the Wallapop app, specialized in the sale of second-hand objects and clothing. According to what it reports, searches for the key words “Taylor Swift” during the penultimate week of June increased by 35% compared to the previous week, «a sign that even Italian fans are starting to prepare in advance for the event of the year». A cosplay gathering? Not exactly, but you don't wear a nice bowler hat when she sings 22?
True or not, these data and these press releases tell one thing: that this week we will talk about nothing else. The biggest pop star on the planet is coming and everyone wants a piece of it, individuals or brands. Will inflation rise? Looking at the price of living in Milan, it's as if there were already a Taylor concert a week. Take it easy, please.