Ep 184: Pop Music Tourism in the Spotlight as Taylor Swift & Blackpink Fever Grips South East Asia

South East Asia is abuzz with talk of Tourism Taylornomics as Singapore prepares for the billion-dollar Eras Tour to arrive. Coldplay are also headed to the region, Blackpink are filling soccer stadiums and fans await news of Beyonce’s 2024 tour destinations.

Pop Music Tourism is the region’s breakout story of 2023. The economic windfall for airlines, hotels and tours and experiences players is enormous - as is the boost for destination branding. After Blackpink’s recent Hanoi shows, a city official sent the band a letter to thank them for enhancing the capital’s image “as a peaceful, safe and friendly destination”.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd is producing a Halloween-themed musical show in Singapore, and scores of K-pop bands are escaping the shadow of BTS to draw large crowds. Plus, we discuss a jazz festival in Jakarta (with stages sponsored by a hotel group and a tourism board), performances by Indian stars in KL - and the social media fallout when things go wrong, as recently happened with The 1975’s festival performance in Malaysia.

And we take a quick tour to North East Asia, where festivals in Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan are drawing huge crowds of concertgoers from home and abroad.