Photo credit: Mason Poole / CC from 4.0
A leading economist at Danske Bank estimates that the start of the Beyoncé Renaissance Tour in Stockholm has contributed to rising inflation in Sweden.
Beyoncé fans flocking to Sweden’s capital have sent hotel prices skyrocketing, according to an economist Michael Grahn calls it a “Beyoncé slip”. He estimates that the global superstar’s tour contributed about 0.2 percentage point to the country’s inflation.
According to the Swedish government, the country’s inflation stood at 9.7 percent in May, down from 10.5 percent in the previous month. FactSet economists had expected inflation to fall to 9.2 percent last month; According to Statistics Sweden, hotel and restaurant prices rose by 3.3 percent in May compared to the previous month.
“It’s very rare,” Grahn said. “Basically, their fans were sucking hotels around Stockholm within a radius of about 40 miles,” resulting in higher hotel prices.
“Beyonce probably had an impact on hotel prices in Stockholm the week she performed here,” added Carl Mårtensson, price statistician at Statistics Sweden, noting that the star’s impact on hotel prices that week was “not a Inflation in the country is likely to have had a significant impact” on hotel prices.
As tickets for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour went on sale earlier this year, Ticketmaster said fan demand for the first round of tickets exceeded the number available by more than 800 percent. Grahn says the Swedish krona is weak economically, so tickets and other costs are usually cheaper for fans buying from another country.
The Renaissance Tour, named after Beyoncé’s latest album, is making the rounds in Europe before heading to the US next month. It’s the superstar’s first tour in seven years. It’s understandable why fans are desperate for tickets.
But while Beyoncé’s power is undeniable, other superstars have also made an economic impact on the cities they’ve visited, including Taylor Swift. According to the Las Vegas Department of Tourism, her visit to Las Vegas on her Eras tour in March helped the state nearly match pre-pandemic visitor numbers.