Taylor Swift will be a boon to Toronto’s economy. But traffic could be a ‘blight’

The Swifties are coming, Toronto.

Six months from now, hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans will be in the city to watch the music superstar perform six shows as part of her blockbuster Eras Tour.

Like many regions that have hosted Swift on this tour, Toronto will no doubt experience an economic boon, with fans spending their money on items like merchandise, food and accommodation.

The city says it’s in the early stages of event planning, which includes congestion and crowd management. However, with some of the worst traffic in the world, Toronto runs a reputational risk if it doesn’t get it under control for when Swift comes to town, one expert says.

“We have major celebrities like Tom Cruise complain about how bad our traffic is, and you can just imagine how bad it’s going to be when you have a million Canadians and foreigners coming to the Taylor Swift concerts here,” said Daniel Tsai, a business lecturer at the University of Toronto.

“The other thing (is) you don’t want her to come out and say, ‘I love Toronto, but man, the traffic is bad.’ … Bad traffic is a blight on tourism.”

Swift’s Eras Tour, which started in March 2023, has made headlines for not only the earthquakes it causes but also the seismic amount of money it brings in.

According to a July 2023 U.S. Federal Reserve report, Swift’s three shows in Philadelphia last May were a driving factor in why it was the strongest month for hotel revenue in that city since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Also in July, Swift performed two shows in Colorado, which translated into a US$140-million boost to the state’s GDP for the year, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute – a U.S. think tank that promotes Colorado’s economy.

Pat Tobin, general