'Money comes back but the Eras Tour doesn't': Fans shell out for Swift in Toronto

Taylor Swift performs during the opening show of the Toronto dates of The Eras Tour on Thursday, November 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

American sisters Lina and My Jae weren't worried about the thousands of dollars they dropped to see Taylor Swift in Toronto.

"You know what, money comes back but Taylor Swift Eras Tour doesn't," My Jae said as she showed off her hand-bedazzled bodysuit and tinsel-trimmed sweater ahead of the Thursday show.

The duo from Upstate New York spent about $3,000 apiece all told, from their $1,800 floor tickets to the $350 bodysuit Lina Jae bought and the $55 entry fee to Taylgate, the unofficial Swift party next door to the concert. 

The sisters are among the many fans willing to spend big bucks in hopes of seeing Swift, the flip side of the $152 million in direct spending Destination Toronto has estimated will result from Swift's swing through the city. 

"Memories will be made and they'll be worth it," Lina Jae said.

Some fans were even willing to shell out without guaranteed entry to the concert. 

Hours before Swift was set to take the stage in Toronto, German tourist Jasmin Salve was walking around the grounds carrying a cardboard sign that explained her plight.

"Long story short: Searching for 1 ticket," it read.

Salve said she was willing to spend $1,100 to get into the concert, in addition to the roughly $1,000 she had already spent on her trip.

"The flight was very cheap," she said outside the Rogers Centre. "It was 500 euro. And for the hotel, another 200."

If she doesn't get to see Swift, she said she would be "very sad."

"But I will make the best out of my trip," she said, noting she went to the Toronto Island earlier Thursday and had plans to hit up Niagara Falls on Friday, before trying again for tickets Saturday. 

Twenty-two-year-old Tien Nguyen was in a similar boat Wednesday. She decided to make the trip from Winnipeg to Toronto as soon as she heard Swift was stopping in the city.

"I'm in talks with someone on the ticket," Nguyen said that afternoon, with just over 24 hours to go before the shows were set to kick off. "We're meeting up tomorrow, and that's $1,500."

Her flight cost her another $300, and she's crashing with a friend to save money, so if she nabs the ticket she estimates the total cost of her trip at around $2,000.

Destination Toronto, a tourism organization, said the $152 million in direct spending it was projecting doesn't include concert tickets or airfare, because that money doesn't stay in the local economy.

CEO Andrew Weir said the organization anticipates the spending will grow into a $282-million economic impact as the money continues to circulate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.