Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is officially in full swing in Singapore – but not everyone’s pleased.
The ‘Bad Blood’ hitmaker has been on tour since March 2023, and the Eras Tour has since been crowned as the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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So far, Swift has travelled North and South America and Australia, and is currently in Singapore.
Her first concert in the Southeast Asian country was on Saturday (March 2), with the 34-year-old performing at the country’s National Stadium in Kallang until March 9.
But, while she’s over in that neck of the woods, Swift won’t be touring in the likes of Thailand or Indonesia and she reportedly struck a deal with the Singapore government to only tour there – in favor of its neighboring countries.
For the exclusivity, the ‘Anti-Hero’ singer is reportedly being paid a whopping $3 million per show.
Understandably, the huge deal has left Singapore’s surrounding countries unhappy.
Thai PM Srettha Thavisin said on the matter: “If [Swift] came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organize it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand.
“Even though we would have to subsidize at least 500m baht ($14 million USD), it would be worth it.”
He added that had he of known of Singapore’s apparent deal with the singer, he would have brought the Eras Tour to Thailand.
While there have been reports of Swift being paid as much as $3 million per show, Singapore’s Culture Minister Edwin Tong has since insisted that the amount they paid is ‘not anywhere as high as speculated’.
“Due to business confidentiality, we cannot reveal the specific size and conditions of the grant,” Tong added.
But it isn’t because the surrounding government officials are die-hard Swifties that they wanted the singer to visit their respective countries, but because of the huge financial gain it can bring.
Before heading to Singapore, Swift had been performing in Australia – which reportedly brought a whopping A$145 million ‘uplift’ to consumer spending, BBC News reports.
More than 570,000 tickets were sold across seven nights in Sydney and Melbourne.
While it’s likely the Eras Tour will give a financial boost to Singapore as well, the country is also optimistic that it’ll help with its tourism.
Maybank’s economist Erica Tay told the news outlet: “Six concerts may not move a nation’s economic growth materially, but the strategic value of Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Singapore as a tourism destination outweighs that one-off boost.”
It’s predicted that 70 percent of Swift’s Singapore concert-goers will be from out of town.