Oasis tour expected to boost UK economy by at least £1.1 billion

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Oasis's sell-out UK tour is set to bring in a staggering £1.1billion into the British economy, boosting struggling high streets, bars, shops and city centres. The band's 17-gig comeback has seen the nineties icons performing in London, Cardiff and Manchester - with their final gig in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh taking place this evening.
And although final figures on how much Oasis's Live 25 tour will ultimately bring in are yet to be revealed, financial experts predict it will be phenomenal. The seven sell-out shows in London are anticipated to rake in at least £476million by the time they conclude after Oasis's return for extra dates next month.
Manchester, the home of Oasis's frontmen Liam and Noel Gallagher, is also set to reap the rewards of two of the city's most famous sons, with the gigs piling around £302million into the area, according to research by Barclays. Edinburgh, which is currently in the grip of Oasis-mania, is predicted to have its coffers boosted to the tune of £151million, while the Welsh capital of Cardiff is thought to have seen Oasis's opening two shows earn it £112million. All in all, experts predict the band's reunion will ultimately have netted the UK in the region of £1.1billion, by the time the domestic leg ends in Wembley, London, on September 28 - with each gig worth an average of about £64.7million.
However, warnings have been issued the runaway success of group's comeback could also trigger a rise in inflation - as cash-grabbing hotels seek to seize on the mania by driving up prices. In Manchester, hotel prices spiked at £234 per night for windowless rooms, in an eye-watering 500 per cent increase from typical mid-week rates. Edinburgh, too, has seen hotel prices skyrocket by 65 per cent year-on-year for three-star venues and 50 per cent up for four-star ones, as 200,000 die-hard Oasis fans battle it out with Edinburgh Fringe Festival lovers in a brutal scramble for beds.
In some cases, hotel rooms have been listed for a staggering £4,000 a night while the band is in town, prompting some people to sleep in their cars to avoid the 'Oasis effect' on their wallets. Experts says the impact of the Britpop band's tour could ultimately lift headline inflation by as much as four basis points, adding 0.04 per cent to the total figure, if they coincide with the Office for National Statistic's (ONS) data collection dates. A surge in the consumer prices index would complicate an already tricky situation for the Bank of England, economists have warned, as it balances a slowing economy with sticky inflation and the effect of household bill hikes.
It would be unwelcome ahead of a crucial autumn period, which will see the Bank's ratesetters decide on whether it can continue to cut interest rates. The Bank of England cut base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4 per cent last week. The tour has already proved a major cash cow for all sorts of businesses, from bars and hotels, to tourist attractions, tribute acts and fashion retailers. However, the hike is only expected to be a temporary blip, contained predominantly to July and August, when most of the Oasis's UK shows are taking place.
The situation echoes the economic boost from Taylor Swift's Eras tour in the UK , with some experts claiming it had helped to fuel services inflation, primarily through huge hikes in hotel prices, in an effect dubbed Swiftflation. During Taylor Swift's tour, which ended last August, fans of the American megastar spent an average of £848 per person. Meanwhile, according to a recent study by Barclays, Oasis lovers are expectedly to spend fractionally less per head, at £766. However, the headline figure on how much the Gallagher brothers' tour brings into the UK is expected to be higher, as Oasis are playing 17 concerts compared to Swift's 15.
In June 2024, Swedish officials claimed the economic boom surrounding Swift's Eras tour there - which also saw accommodation prices in Stockholm to skyrocket - had contributed to a rise in the country's inflation for the first time in a year. A similar increase was seen a year earlier, in 2023, when Beyoncé's Renaissance tour arrived in Stockholm. In the UK, 'Swifties' – the name for Taylor Swift's army of followers – spent hugely on tickets, travel and hotels on her June dates in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London, prompting a similar inflation headache for the Bank of England.
Will the Bank of England just roll with it on Oasis?
Capital Economics warned there could be 'perhaps a greater chance of an effect with the Oasis concerts' than with Swift's tour, pointing towards an effect from one of the band's concerts in Manchester in July that happened after a possible collection date. 'The Bank will be able to have a go at quantifying it and ignore it as a one-off price effect that won't be repeated,' said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics. 'At the margin, though, it could give some more ammunition to those on the MPC who want to cut interest rates more slowly because they are worried about inflation being too high for too long. If in doubt, they may want to sit on the sidelines.'
Ticket prices of the Oasis reunion tour have been eye-wateringly high, with fans splashing out anywhere from £150 to £350 for an average seat - while resale prices soared to a staggering £3,350 for fans seeking prime positions. It's believed ticket sales alone among the 900,000 die-hard Oasis fans hit £217million. Meanwhile, the average concertgoer is thought to have spent £159 each on food and drink, resulting in an estimated £219.3million in hospitality expenditure. When it comes to travel and accommodation costs, fans are believed to have splashed out around £166million. In Edinburgh, analysis by audit, tax and consultancy firm RSM found room rates in the Scottish capital soared by 191 per cent for Oasis's Friday show last week, from £320.71 the week prior.
Stuart McCallum, partner and head of consumer markets in Scotland as RSM UK, said: 'As headwinds continue to build little by little for hoteliers – including rising employment costs, stagnating room rates, and a dip in occupancy in May, some might say the resurgence of 90's nostalgia and certain rock 'n' roll stars couldn't have come at a better time to boost Scotland's economy. Big ticket events such as this bring significant increased footfall and will be welcomed by retail and hospitality businesses across Scotland. 'With Edinburgh expected to come alive with pop-up shops, Britpop fashion and crowd singalongs, Oasis is bringing a retro reboot to the Scottish economy.'
The Oasis comeback caused a rush to see the most successful band of the 1990s Britpop era with hundreds of thousands of fans battling to get tickets, while songs such as Live Forever, Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger re-entered the UK singles chart. The Gallagher brothers Noel and Liam - known for their feuding - last performed together in 2009. The reunion tour could net them personally as much as £100million each. Oasis's tour is set to move to Dublin, Ireland, on August 16, with dates in North America, South America, Japan and Australia also scheduled between now and November 23, which will see the world tour wrapping up in Sao Paulo, Brazil.