This last weekend saw three significant events take place in Sydney. Sail GP raced on Sydney Harbour for sailing enthusiasts, rock band Blink-182 performed at Qudos Bank Arena at Sydney Olympic Park on both Saturday and Sunday nights and, arguably the most talked about of the three – Taylor Swift performed four sold-out shows to audiences of around 81,000 each night at Accor Stadium from Friday to Monday nights.
“Hotel results in Sydney over the weekend were higher than anything we’ve seen since the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Adrian Williams, Accor Pacific’s chief operating officer for the group’s premium, midscale and economy brands.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to witness this incredible moment, where the convergence of music, sports and tourism ignites such excitement and possibility. I am proud of our dedicated hotel teams, who welcomed and catered to our many guests over the weekend.
“The boost to tourism doesn’t just stop at creating memories – it creates jobs. From hospitality to entertainment, every aspect of this contributes to our mission of fostering prosperity and creating meaningful opportunities for our communities.”
Destination NSW was anticipating 100,000 visitors to Sydney for Taylor Swift’s concerts from intrastate, interstate and overseas. Given that Swift is not performing anywhere in Oceania beyond Sydney and Melbourne and all shows sold out within hours of going on sale, visitation for the concerts can be reasonably expected.
Prior to the concerts, the state’s tourism agency was estimating $80 million in spend from visitors for Swift’s concerts while Business Sydney had a broader economic impact figure of $113 million.
