Are concerts “running the world?”: A look at how Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour has impacted Europe hotel performance
Okay, hotels, “now let’s get in formation”, because major concert tours seem to be boosting performance all around the world. In May and June 2023, the stage was Europe for Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, which featured 19 shows across 14 European cities. Let’s just say that the hotel industry is likely “crazy in love” after the impact Beyoncé had on the region.
Feeling the music after our recent Taylor Swift tour analysis, we took a quick look at Beyoncé’s impact on actualized performance in the U.K. and Sweden, as well as forward bookings in five active Forward STAR markets.
United Kingdom
Four U.K. cities welcomed the global star in May and early June. The first of those shows on Saturday, 17 May, pushed Cardiff hotel occupancy to 95.7% and average daily rate (ADR) to GBP200.15. Each of those metrics were the highest this year in Cardiff.
On Saturday, 20 May, in Edinburgh, occupancy jumped to 95.1%, driving ADR to GBP247.06. As part of the market’s “concert-heavy” month, these ranked as the fourth-highest occupancy and ADR levels after Bruce Springsteen’s concert on 30 May and two Harry Styles’ performances on 26-27 May.
Among the five Beyoncé concerts at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the highest occupancy (84.4%) was seen on Saturday, 3 June, with ADR at GBP227.58. London’s top-line performance has largely returned to substantial levels, so the Beyoncé impact was less of a standout. Overall, May was one of the market’s best months since late 2022.
Sweden
Stockholm was the first European market to welcome Beyoncé on Wednesday, 10 May. The highly-anticipated concert lifted occupancy to 94.6% on the night of the show, the second-highest level for the month. That level was 5.0% higher than the last time Stockholm hosted the singer on a solo tour (26 July 2016: 89.6%). Hoteliers capitalized on the demand surge with an ADR of SEK2,706.17 (EUR239.32).
Upcoming dates
Anticipation for Beyoncé’s tour has been driving bookings for some time. Looking at Forward STAR data as of 5 June, the impact is ramping up further as concert dates draw near, and hotels in these markets are likely the next to join Beyoncé’s “Beyhive” thanks to the expected impact on performance.
For a Thursday, 15 June, concert in Cologne, occupancy on the books was peaking at 91.6%. The same goes for pickup (the difference in booking levels from one reporting period to the next), which is also at a high (6.5% for 15 June) for the coming months.
Moving to the Netherlands, Amsterdam is set to host not one, but two of Beyoncé’s concerts during the weekend of 17-18 June. Although not as high as levels in Cologne, the singer’s appearance has the market’s occupancy on the books at 79.8% and 65.3%, respectively.
Circling back to Hamburg, Germany, the Renaissance World Tour is pushing the market’s levels to 78.2% for 21 June, which is the highest within a two-week window. The market also shows a spike in pickup around that day—8.2% for the night of the concert and 8.3% for night before.
Frankfurt currently shows an occupancy-on-the-books level of 58.7% on the day of the concert (24 June).
And finally, Warsaw, the last European city hosting Beyoncé on the Renaissance tour, currently shows its highest occupancy on the books (74.7% on 27 June) until the beginning of September.
About STR
STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the commercial and residential property markets. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.
