\n<\/p>\n
M<\/span>ove over, Taylor Swift. Her Eras tour was the highest grossing in history, sparking an estimated $5bn in direct consumer spending across the US. But now another musical phenomenon is preparing to sweep through North America \u2013 and economists expect it will generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity along the way.<\/p>\n K-pop sensation BTS will embark this year on their largest tour yet, spanning 34 regions across five continents, ending a hiatus due to mandatory military service that lasted almost four years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BTS tour will be the event of the year,\u201d Timothy Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University, said. \u201cEvery stop is going to see a boost in tourism, hotel occupancy, and economic activity to an extraordinary degree that might be even bigger than Taylor Swift.\u201d<\/p>\n The first US stop is Tampa, Florida, on 15 April. Tickets have yet to go on sale, but that has not stopped fans like Leslie Huynh, 28, from booking up flights and hotels.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a meme at this point that once BTS announces a tour, you just book hotels and flights first and tickets will somehow appear whether that is resale or not,\u201d she said. \u201cI consider BTS to be a very expensive hobby of mine \u2013 like, they are what I spend my money on.\u201d<\/p>\n Huynh, a film equipment rentals associate based in New York, hopes to attend 11 cities on the tour, catching 22 shows along the way. She expects to spend at least $6,000.<\/p>\n When she travels for a concert, Huynh explores the city and ventures on a \u201cBTS pilgrimage\u201d, hitting up spots the boyband has visited, such as restaurants or tourist attractions.<\/p>\n \u201cBTS has changed my life, and I hold them so near to my heart,\u201d she said, acknowledging that this might sound dramatic. \u201cThey are genuinely a reason to wake up when you don\u2019t feel like it. They are something to look forward to, especially with this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n Economists say BTS fans, known as Army, share similar traits with Swifties: loyalty, age demographic and a willingness to spend. But there\u2019s one key difference.<\/p>\n \u201cBTS fans are much more passionate and committed than western artists\u2019 fans,\u201d Seoyoung Kwon, an economic researcher at Yonsei University, said. \u201cEspecially given that BTS have not toured in so long, many BTS fans are willing to go the extra mile and attend concerts not just in their [home] country, but in other countries and cities as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The group\u2019s most recent tour in 2021, Permission to Dance, featured just three cities and 12 shows total. Four nights in Los Angeles reportedly generated over $100m for the local economy, while Las Vegas was estimated to have picked up $160m in revenue, figures that the upcoming 79-show tour is expected to multiply many times over.<\/p>\n Nearly three in five gen Z and millennials are willing to travel more than 50 miles for concerts, according to a 2024 Bread Financial survey. Non-local attenders spend about 3.4 times their ticket cost on traveling and tourism expenses in the local economy.<\/p>\n But Michael Mariano, head of economic development at Tourism Economics, emphasized: \u201cThese average figures aren\u2019t applicable to BTS. They will well surpass these numbers, and I honestly don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible to understand how big this tour can be.\u201d<\/p>\n This combination of factors \u2013 mass following, high demand, and willingness to travel \u2013 has created perfect conditions for BTS\u2019s most impactful tour yet, economists say.<\/p>\n \u201cWith BTS, it\u2019s not just a concert,\u201d Cailey Merulla, a content strategist in New Jersey, said with a wide smile. She plans to attend six shows across three different US cities during the upcoming tour.<\/p>\n \u201cBTS got me through the worst parts of my life and they are an unconditional source of happiness,\u201d added Merulla, 25. \u201cI genuinely don\u2019t know where I would be without them so I try to see them any chance I get.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Huynh, Merulla plans to build a vacation itinerary around the concert and pop-up events to connect with fellow fans. She also hopes to meet up with friends flying in from the UK for the shows in East Rutherford, New Jersey.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are the boys born performers and the whole show is spectacle, but I often meet friends I would\u2019ve never met had it not been for a concert,\u201d Merulla laughed. \u201cTraveling for BTS is always a no-brainer for me.\u201d<\/p>\n She will not be alone, according to tourism experts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tour brings some much needed good news for the US in a time where US tourism is declining,\u201d Richie Karaburun, professor of hospitality and tourism at the New York University, said. \u201cIt\u2019s the trickle-down effect, and that is what expands the potential economic reach of this BTS tour.\u201d<\/p>\n Calkins, at Northwestern University, explained that an initial splurge on concert tickets typically causes a ripple effect. Concertgoers become tourists, and boost the local economy.<\/p>\n \u201cThese events don\u2019t just bring people to a city \u2013 they showcase the city to the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThe BTS tour is an opportunity for cities to enhance their brand and attract more people in a way that\u2019s hard to replicate through traditional marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n Fan-organized events and pop-up vendors are likely to increase economic impact of the BTS tour beyond that of the Eras tour, according to Karaburun. \u201cThese events are very specific to K-pop fanbases,\u201d he said. \u201cThe overlapping pop-ups with the tour is going to be a phenomenal opportunity for small businesses and many entrepreneurs at large.\u201d<\/p>\n Small businesses are already mobilizing. Cherry Benyasri, 30, and her sister Neon, 28, run a K-pop inspired clothing brand called Ordinary Affair. They see the BTS tour as an opportunity for promotion and events aligning with the LA shows.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are running off of the hype and excitement of BTS\u2019s comeback for a new product launch soon,\u201d Cherry said. \u201cCompared to the time BTS were away and now, you can feel Army\u2019s excitement and they are showing up stronger than before.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaerim Choi, professor of economics at Yonsei University, sees the tour as part of a sustained expansion of Korean consumer goods in the US market. Last year, the US imported more than $2bn in Korean beauty products, up 34% from 2024, driven by K-pop\u2019s cultural influence, according to research by Kwon and Choi.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is much bigger than concerts,\u201d Choi said. \u201cThis BTS tour will only accelerate the Korean boom. It\u2019s not just short-term economic gain. It\u2019s expanding the entire Korean consumer market in the US for the long horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n The scope and scale of this tour remains to be determined, with BTS already hinting that more dates will be unveiled. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to worry about demand,\u201d said Mariano. \u201cIt\u2019s guaranteed fans will show up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Move over, Taylor Swift. Her Eras tour was the highest grossing in history, sparking an estimated $5bn in direct consumer spending across the US. But now another musical phenomenon is preparing to sweep through North America \u2013 and economists expect it will generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity along the way. K-pop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[710,650,739,303,1271,1934,620,415,19417,2143,3317],"class_list":{"0":"post-42383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-boom","9":"tag-boost","10":"tag-bts","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-economic","13":"tag-kpop","14":"tag-set","15":"tag-stop","16":"tag-supergroup","17":"tag-tour","18":"tag-trigger"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}