Breaking records on multiple fronts, Taylor Swift brought over 207,000 “Swifties” with her to Indianapolis, which became temporarily known as “Swift City.”
Swift was in town from Nov. 1-3 for her final shows of the U.S. leg of “The Eras Tour.” Swift’s tour became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time by the end of 2023 when, at that point, it had already made over $1 billion dollars less than halfway through its run, according to Time. While the arrival of approximately 200,000 “Swifties” to Indy was expected, in reality there were at least 207,000 fans present over the weekend, according to Visit Indy. All three nights of the concert continued to break records as they went on; each performance at Lucas Oil Stadium continued to set new all-time attendance records as the weekend went on with over 69,000 Swifties in attendance per night, according to Swift herself.
Visit Indy’s Senior Communications Manager Clare Clark said Taylor Swift weekend was the biggest event for 2024 for the city of Indianapolis. While it was perhaps the most impactful event of the calendar year, Clark said 2024 has already been a record-breaking year in terms of tourism.
“We can definitely say that Taylor Swift’s Weekend in Indianapolis exceeded all expectations and tourism metrics,” Clark said. “We are used to hosting large-scale events, but it was the biggest event for tourism for 2024. This will be on par with, if not more than, the impact and visitor count that we saw with the Super Bowl in 2012.”
UIndy Associate Professor of Economics Timothy Zimmer said the economic effects of the three-day concert stop is very significant. He said while the boost to Indianapolis’s economy may be temporary, this concert was massive worldwide regardless of the duration and still has a notable impact for the city.
“You’re talking about 200,000 people, and that’s a massive number,” Zimmer said. “The key there is that most of them are coming from out of state. You’re getting new money into the state, which is going to add to the whole economy.”
According to Visit Indy, the anticipated economic impact from “The Eras Tour” weekend to be a nine-figure number. Over 80% of ticket holders for the Indy shows were from out of state, according to Visit Indy. This meant more revenue for the city because short-term rental bookings increased 207% in comparison to the same weekend last year. There was a seven thousand percent increase in searches for Airbnb rentals year-over-year for the weekend, and the Indianapolis International Airport increased its incoming flight seat capacity and added additional round-trip flights from key destinations, according to Visit Indy.
“We had a sellout of all hotel rooms and they were commanding rates three times the normal rate for that weekend in November,” Clark said. “We had city-wide installations branding Indianapolis as ‘Swift City’ for the weekend. With Indianapolis being an event-driven city, time and time again we see our hospitality partners, restaurants and hotels really step up to the plate to roll out the red carpet for the visitor experience.”
The J.W. Marriott finished its 34-story decal on the front of the building of Swift on Oct. 18 in preparation for her arrival. The Children’s Museum bedecked its dinosaurs with friendship bracelets as they entered their “Swiftie Era,” according to Visit Indy.
Downtown Indianapolis has hosted over 50 events and placed 32 Swift-themed street signs around the city blocks, according to Visit Indy. Victory Field hosted a pre-concert party on the first night of the show called “Baseb(all) Too Well,” the Indianapolis Zoo entered its “Wildest Era” and hosted a public all-weekend-long Swift party and more events hosted by the small businesses of Indy.
Clark said convincing the Indy community to participate in large-scale events like this one is an easy pitch. Large event weekends, like the Taylor Swift weekend, are perfect to showcase how Indianapolis does large scale events best, she said.
“We use these events as a marketing opportunity for potential convention clients,” Clark said. “We utilized this weekend to show how successful we can be from a public safety lens, getting 200,000 people in and out of the city successfully, what we can do from citywide activations, how walkable our downtown is and overall highlighting the hospitality community in Indianapolis.”
Taylor Swift left Indianapolis, but Zimmer and Clark both said her presence was significant and brought a tourism and economical boost that will add credit to Indy’s “Reputation.”
