Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour took Australia by storm, but the fact that the Blank Space singer only performed in Sydney and Melbourne didn’t hinder any of her Fearless fans.

Interstate Swifties across Australia and international travellers from New Zealand looking to avoid a FOMO-ridden Cruel Summer paid well-above-average prices to witness the superstar’s captivating performance.

New insights from Audience360, a provider of first-party audiences, revealed the whopping impact Swiftonomics had on Australia, with fans that travelled to see Swift in Sydney spending $1,041 on average for travel and $1,113 for Melbourne travel per person. And that doesn’t even include the concert ticket price!

Sydney, Sydney, Sydney, Sydney… what a whirlwind of endless magical moments with you. I’m so grateful that we got to be the first tour to play Accor Stadium 4 times. I’ll never forget singing with Sabrina, the chaotic acoustic mashups, and the crowds that were louder (singing… pic.twitter.com/TrUpTvFj3q

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) February 28, 2024

But the cost of seeing Tay Tay wasn’t the same for all her fans looking to make one of their Wildest Dreams come true.

Average Cost Per Traveller

Sydney-bound Swifties had to fork over a bit more than a pretty penny for flights and accommodation during the pop-star’s infectious reign of Swiftomania. And some were looking at quite a bit more than others.

On average, travellers from Queensland and South Australia paid just over $270 more than their Tasmanian and Victorian counterparts to travel to Sydney.

Meanwhile, travellers who jumped across the Tasman were paying the biggest premium to see the Eras Tour in action. New Zealand travellers were stumping up almost $500 more than the locals to make the trip over.

Hotel costs ate up a massive amount of Tay Tay fans’ costs, with the average traveller spending two nights in a Sydney hotel to the tune of $649.

In Melbourne, the average price increased by nearly double from the day before travellers started arriving for the Tour. Given the huge increase in cost per night, users came in early and enjoyed the lead-up, but those who had tickets for the later dates leaned towards overnight/two-night max stays, according to Audience360’s audience insights.

Melbourne, what do I even say to you after over 288,000 of you came and danced with us in the last 3 nights ??! That was unforgettable. You were on an another LEVEL. Thank you for the memories. I’ll revisit the ones from this weekend often 🥲🫶

📷: @GrahamDenholm / @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/5KMXWZ7CVl

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) February 18, 2024

Purchase Window

The anxiety-fuelled waiting period in the Frontier Touring waitlist came to an end and glee-filled Swifties who nabbed a ticket rushed to book their travel, while the unlucky ones had to Shake It Off.

Despite having 235+ days between purchasing a ticket and the show, most ticket holders booked flights to their respective cities as soon as their tickets were secured. Given there were only two cities that Swift visited while on tour, it meant that there was an influx of travellers coming from various states, so they were booking well ahead of time to ensure they secured their flight.

Average Trip Duration

Becoming captivated by Swift’s magic wasn’t the only thing these die-hard fans got up to on their recent travels.

Swifties in Sydney enjoyed their own long weekend and took full advantage of being in the city. Travellers on average stayed for up to three days and took in the city’s diverse cuisine, drinks and nightlife – spending on average over $300 a day.

Those from Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Launceston lapped up Sydney with an average stay of four days, while people from Melbourne, Canberra and Gold Coast stayed around 2.75 days.

Taylor Swift Eras Tour – Accor Stadium, Sydney (Phil Hillyard /Venues NSW)

But while travellers to the NSW capital took their time, it was the Melbourne Swifties that took an extra-long weekend. Staying on average for 4.5 days, Melbourne travellers were splashing a little under $400 a day on the trip.

The higher number of international travellers for the Melbourne leg of the tour correlated to a higher average stay, as visitors from Auckland and Christchurch stayed around 7.5 days.

Origin Of Visitors

Queensland-based interstate travellers to Sydney were the largest group seeing Swift, accounting for over 30 per cent of travellers. While there were shows in Melbourne, that didn’t stop those who missed out on those tickets from turning their attention to the Sydney concerts, with 28.1 per cent of interstate travellers coming from Victoria. Meanwhile, travellers from Adelaide and Darwin made up 10.1 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively of the interstate arrivals for the event.

While down south it was a bit of a different story. Interstate travellers from Adelaide (19.8%), Gold Coast (16.6%) and Perth (16%) made up a combined 52.4 per cent of the people travelling for the Melbourne show.

But the Melbourne gig didn’t just bring interstate travellers with NZ Swifties making up 6.9 per cent of the travelling audience. People from Sydney and Brisbane seemingly preferred not to travel to Melbourne for the show if they missed out on tickets in Sydney, making up only 17.6 per cent of the travelling audience to Melbourne.

Traveller Types

Swifties flocked to the concerts in all sorts of groups and traveller types. Fans heading to Sydney from Brisbane, or the Gold Coast were more likely to book their trip as an individual, while those travelling with children as a parent of a Swifty were more likely to be from Melbourne and Adelaide. Fans making the trek to Sydney with their ‘Travis Kelce’ were more likely to be users from Perth and the Sunshine Coast.

Those seeing the superstar in Melbourne from Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast indexed higher for booking their trip as an individual, while parents of Swifties were likely to be from Adelaide, Brisbane or NZ. And finally, those with a partner were more likely to be users from Perth, Adelaide, or Gold Coast.

Audience360, the company behind this Swift-focused insights, is powered by exclusive data partnerships with brands such as Webjet, Executive Traveller, Localista, carsales, Mozo and more.

Featured Image: Taylor Swift performing in Melbourne – @GrahamDenholm/@GettyImages