Taylor Swift’s concerts could boost March retail sales by $150m: expert

The pop star will hold six concerts in Singapore in March.

Economists are expecting the six-night concert of pop star Taylor Swift in Singapore to boost retail sales in March by $150m, mainly from shopping and F&B receipts.

UOB Senior Economist Alvin Liew added that the event also triggered a spike in demand for hotels and airlines.

Major events like Swift’s concerts and Business Travel and Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions activities will continue to support retailers in Singapore in 2024, said Liew.

The recent S$1.9b enhancement to the Assurance Package (AP) announced during Budget 2024 could also increase retail sales, said Jester Koh, associate economist at UOB.

The impact of the AP will likely be reflected within 1-3 months from the timing of the measures.

Taking these factors into account and downside risks like the challenging external environment and a greater-than-anticipated easing in domestic and regional labour market conditions, UOB forecasts a retail sales growth of 1.0% in 2024, a moderation from the 2023 record of 2.2%.

Follow the link for more news on

UOB

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia