Taylor Swift: Eras Tour set to notch record hotel occupancy as well as concert sales

The music superstar will break Ed Sheeran’s Australian concert benchmark and is on the cusp of another historic feat when she tours Melbourne in February.

Taylor Swift’s record-breaking tour of Melbourne is set to pack city hotels to unprecedented levels.

Hoteliers have already started selling out rooms ahead of Swift’s three sold-out MCG shows, with industry experts predicting there will be less accommodation available in Melbourne than ever when the Shake It Off star hits town.

Full house signs are tipped to go up across budget, mid-range and luxury hotels during the February 16-18 period when Swift will play the MCG, with fans from near and far taking mini breaks in Melbourne.

Hotels are already noting stronger demand than the AFL Grand Final, Spring Racing Carnival, Australian Open tennis and F1 Grand Prix.

Hotels are filling up for the dates Taylor Swift is playing in Melbourne. Picture: Getty

And many hotels have set minimum night stays to meet pent-up demand for the weekend Swift takes over Melbourne.

Australia’s largest hotel operator, Accor, reported a frenzy among fans for accommodation in Melbourne and Sydney, the only Aussie cities to score shows for The Eras Tour.

Accor Pacific chief executive Sarah Derry said there had been an “unprecedented” surge in hotel bookings from “across the country and even around the world” in both cities, particularly Melbourne.

“As a result, Accor’s hotels in Sydney and Melbourne have experienced a significant surge in bookings over Taylor Swift’s concert dates,’’ she said.

Swift has sparked a frenzy among fans for accommodation in Melbourne and Sydney. Picture: Getty

“Our Melbourne hotels are currently holding almost tenfold more in bookings over Taylor Swift’s Melbourne concert dates, when compared to the year prior.”

Swift is already set to break Ed Sheeran’s Australian concert record of 218,000 fans across two nights at the MCG with her three shows at the venue.

Now she is poised to surpass the economic impact Sheeran had on the city, exceeding the 90.6 and 90.1 per cent hotel occupancy rates he set on March 2 and 3 and likely breaking Melbourne accommodation records across three straight nights.

Accommodation Australia Victorian general manager Dougal Hollis said the highest hotel occupancy rate Melbourne had achieved was between 95 and 97 per cent in 2009.

But there were now at least 10,000 more rooms to be sold at hotels across the city, meaning Swift will almost certainly sell the most rooms Melbourne has seen.

“Major hotel groups project that many of their Melbourne hotels will be full during this period, as guests plan a Melbourne mini-break around the concert performances,’’ he said.

An “important caveat’’ however, was some fans who booked rooms only to miss out on tickets could make cancellations.

Comfort Apartments in Fitzroy, is completely booked out.

Lyf Collingwood and Choice Hotels, which operates accommodation venues across Melbourne, are among those close to or already sold out while Swift is in town.

Ascott Australia managing director David Mansfield said: “Across all our brands in metro Melbourne we are at near full capacity at prices reflecting key event levels’’.

According to STR, the biggest event to rev up hotel occupancy was the first day of the Melbourne Grand Prix, on March 31, when 90.7 per cent of hotels were booked in the city.

Originally published as Taylor Swift: Eras Tour set to notch record hotel occupancy as well as concert sales