Several countries in Southeast Asia are openly expressing their disdain for Singapore.
I. What is happening?
From March 2 to 9, American pop star Taylor Swift is performing her sold-out concert, The Eras Tour, at the National Stadium, Singapore. It is her only stop in the entire Southeast Asian region, with the only other Asian venue being Japan.
Tickets to all six-nights in Singapore were highly sought after. According to Maybank, a total of 300,000 fans will be attending the tour over the entire week. Out of this, an estimated 70% are coming from overseas, with most arriving from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Besides being closer in proximity, visas to Singapore are not needed as members of the ASEAN region, thus making it the most accessible stop for Southeast Asian Swifties.
II. Why is this a problem?
While Singapore is experiencing a boost in tourism, fellow Southeast Asian nations are losing out on potential income that could have been earned had the soloist visited them as well.
According to Edmund Ong, general manager at Trip.com, Singapore-inbound flights shot up by 186% and accommodations almost quintupled between March 1 to 9.
Sarah Wan, Klook’s general manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, added that travelers will spend an average of $800 USD on local establishments in addition to their concert tickets.
Based on our data, typically, a tourist attending a concert or event can hit an incremental spending of 5x the face ticket value. Based on an average ticket price, we expect a traveler to spend an additional $800 on local hotels, restaurants, experiences, etc.
— Sarah Wan, Klook’s general manager for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore
An estimated $370 million USD will be generated on tourism by the overseas concert attendees of The Eras Tour.
III. What are politicians claiming?
Rumors quickly spread internally about the backdoor political maneuvering that made all of this possible.
Filipino economist and lawmaker Joey Salceda asked the local Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to look into the rumors that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) worked behind the scenes to deny AEG Presents, the producer of The Eras Tour, the opportunity to host the tour in any other country in the region. According to him, information came from Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin that Singapore paid Taylor Swift $3 million USD per show to form an exclusivity contract with them.
Some $3 million USD in grants were allegedly given by the Singapore government to AEG to host the concert in Singapore. The catch was that they do not host it elsewhere in the region. I give it to them that the policy worked. Regional demand for Singaporean hotels and airlines was up 30% over the period. I estimate that the exclusivity term caused an increase in industry revenues by $60 million USD. So, the grant produced 30 times more in economic activity.
But it was at the expense of neighboring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concert-goers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore. I doubt the exclusivity terms were on the grant contract itself.
— Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda
They worried about the harmful impact this could have on their respective nation’s potential tourism as well as the tension this may bring their relationship as neighboring countries.
I don’t think we should just let things like this pass. We should still officially register our opposition. It also runs contrary to the principle of consensus-based relations and solidarity on which the ASEAN was founded…our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt I think it’s also one example of the evolving nature of trade in services that we need to discuss with our neighbors, perhaps as enhancements to the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement.
— Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda
IV. What was Singapore’s response?
These allegations turned out to be true. Responding to Salceda’s remark that this is not “what good neighbor’s do,” Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted that they “negotiated an agreement” with Taylor Swift’s team to be her team’s exclusive Southeast Asian partner.
[Our] agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia.
— Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
He emphasized, however, that Singapore was not trying to be “unfriendly” with this political move.
Certain incentives were provided to her, and a deal was reached. It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly.
If we had not made such an arrangement, would she have come to more places in Southeast Asia? Maybe, maybe not?
— Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
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