Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is not only a tour, but also a major cultural event that brings huge revenue to the cities it passes through. In Asia, only 2 countries invited by Taylor Swift to perform: Japan and Singapore.

After Thai Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin regretted not being able to bring The Eras Tour to Thailand, it was the turn of South Korean media to r.eveal that the country also failed to convince Taylor Swift to perform.

On his personal page, Mr. Chung Tae Young – CEO and vice chairman of Hyundai Card expressed his disappointment when missing the opportunity to bring the global superstar to Korea to perform. Mr. Chung Tae Young is a famous figure in the event industry in Korea, having invited many international artists to perform in the land of kimchi, most recently Bruno Mars.

The powerful man commented, “We should have heard ‘Hello Seoul’ after successful negotiations, but ended up only hearing ‘Hello Tokyo.’ Other governments are supportive of negotiations with Taylor Swift, and we can’t even express interest in the talks because South Korea lacks large-scale venues.”

Chung Tae Young went on to comment on the incredible atmosphere during The Eras Tour at Tokyo Dome, Japan, “I observed various areas in Tokyo Dome to see how the concert was held. It was an extremely bustling scene, crowded with spectators around. Each song has a different stage. Especially this is the first time I have witnessed a stage with 2 bands on both sides of the stage, creating an attractive reflection.”

Besides the reason that there is no big stadium, Korea may not be able to invite Taylor Swift to perform because the singer has bad memories in this country. In February 2011, Taylor Swift held a concert during her Speak Now World Tour at KSPO Dome, South Korea.

 

At that time, the singer was not famous in Korea, so the show fell into a sluggish state. The KSPO Dome has a capacity of up to 15,000 people but only sold 4,725 tickets, becoming the only concert that could not sell out as part of the Speak Now World Tour. The Korean public is also not interested in Taylor Swift, she can even comfortably ride the subway without being recognized.

Previously, Thailand and Singapore were two close competitors in the race to bring Taylor Swift’s Eras tour to Southeast Asia. In the end, Singapore won. Thai authorities are very interested in this result and seek to accurately analyze Singapore’s every move, so that the lion island nation wins the final victory in the double horse race.

Accordingly, when appearing at the iBusiness Forum 2024 economic forum held in Bangkok (Thailand) recently, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin mentioned this story. He said a unit involved in the promotion of the Eras tour provided information to help Thai authorities understand the situation.

The Singapore authorities have offered to cooperate exclusively with singer Taylor Swift in bringing the Eras tour to Southeast Asia. Singapore is said to have offered an extremely attractive “deal”, they are willing to spend “refresher remuneration” from $ 2 to $ 3 million for each music night that Swift performs in the lion island nation.

This negotiation worked, Taylor Swift decided to stop in Singapore and hold 6 music nights here in early March. Currently, all 6 concerts are sold out. The concert series was held at the Singapore National Stadium with a capacity of 55,000 spectators.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said: “The move of the Singapore side is very quick. If Taylor Swift comes to perform in Thailand, I believe the cost of organizing a series of concerts will be reduced. Taylor Swift’s attraction will also help bring a large number of visitors to Thailand during the event.

Even if I have to spend a minimum amount of about 500 million baht to compete with Singapore’s proposal, I still think this is worth it. If the Thai authorities had known this information earlier, I believe we could have brought Taylor Swift’s concert series back to Thailand. Big music nights always have the ability to create added value for the economy.”