When Toronto-based entertainment and hospitality mogul Charles Khabouth heard that Taylor Swift would be bringing her record-breaking Eras tour to the city she's called home for more than 50 years, she knew right away what to do.
“I opened a bottle of Dom Perignon to celebrate,” laughs Khabouth, founder/CEO of INK Entertainment, which operates a string of hotels, bars and restaurants and produces live events around the city. “I've been in this business for about 43 years. I have never seen this much hype in my life around anything. We do, I don't know, 200, 300 live shows every year. We had everyone in town from the Stones to Madonna to Prince. That had a lot more support from everyone than ever before.”
The city of Toronto is set to host one of the most important events – culturally and financially – of the past two years, as Swift and her legion of fans descend on the city for six nights over two weekends (November 14-16, 21-23 ), the penultimate stop on a tour that spanned two years and five continents and changed the fortunes of many cities along the way. And Toronto – known as a cosmopolitan city in its own right, albeit one that has at times had to fight to be considered in the same category as cultural capitals like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago – has risen to the occasion. .
On Nov. 4, the city of Toronto and the Rogers Center renamed Blue Jay Way — the street in front of the Rogers Center that's usually home to Major League Baseball's birthplace and runs from Nathan Phillips Square to the venue — after Taylor Swift Way, featuring 22 ceremonial plaques that will be auctioned off to support the Daily Bread Food Bank after the series concludes. (Rogers is also matching donations to the Daily Bread Food Bank up to $113,000 — a nod to Swift's favorite number, 13.)
And this is only the initial charm that the city will eventually unfold. Since then, the city has announced a tour-torontos-version/” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>Poetry-inspired pre-concert initiative curated by Toronto poet laureate Lillian Allen, while other announcements include Toronto's Version: Taylgate '24 event, which is expected to draw about 60,000 people. an era! Seasons! Seasons! performance by the choir of the singing group! Choir! Choir!; and a location 13 tour-toronto/things-to-do/scavenger-hunt/” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>scavenger hunt laced with different songs from Swift's catalog spread across the city, among many others. There are Eras-themed city tours, dance parties, drag and trivia nights, and pop-up shops throughout the city, as well as giveaways from many businesses. Destination Toronto – the tourist office for Canada's largest city – is waiting for someone $282 million in economic impact from Swift's two-week mini-residency, including $152 million in direct spending, 93% of which is expected to come from tourists flocking to Toronto — an astronomical boost for the city's local businesses.
“We've seen the whole city get in on the action — from a Taylgate party at the Metro Toronto Convention Center to Taylor-themed hotel rooms and special menus at restaurants across the city,” says Kathy Motton, senior director of Destination Toronto. transmissions. “Big events like Taylor Swift bring visitor spending to Toronto and that spending circulates long after visitors return home impacting a broad set of businesses. The obvious positive benefit is to hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses, but this benefit also extends to businesses indirectly affected by visitor spending.”
And many of these establishments have risen to the moment by renovating their own properties to accommodate the 500,000 or so tourists who flood the area.
“We have so much stuff in the property,” says Liza McWilliams, director of marketing at 1 Hotel Toronto, which has turned the Flora lobby lounge into the Folklore Lounge for the next two weeks, complete with a moss-covered piano, tapestries. hanging on the wall with lyrics from Swift Folklore albums and daily acoustic performances open to guests and the public. They also partnered with Little Words Project, the original word-based friendship bracelet company, which is doing a pop-up shop in the lobby of Hotel 1 for the first time in Canada. “I think it's a lot of fun to be a lot more creative and dream up some really amazing things that will stay with the guests for a longer time,” says McWilliams. “Besides [Toronto International] Film festival, I'd say we've never been so specific when it comes to a real city event.”
“It's like getting ready for the Toronto Super Bowl,” says Aaron Harrison, general manager of the Bisha Hotel, a short walk from the Rogers Centre. Bisha also redesigned the entire lobby area (go Reputation period), while common areas on each of the hotel's seven floors are also given a period-themed makeover, one suite has been completely renamed The Taylor (which had become it runs about $4,000 per night if you could pinch it), and the hotel will offer friendship bracelets, a glitter station and themed food and drinks for guests, among other things, in its Lover Lounge. “We wanted the Bisha Hotel to feel like the ultimate fan headquarters,” adds Harrison.
In downtown Toronto, it's almost harder to find a bar or restaurant it doesn't have leaned into Taylor's fury rather than one he has. (I'm talking about problems with champagne.) The night before the shows began on Nov. 13, the iconic Space Needle flashed rainbow colors in Swift's honor, and bartenders and restaurant staff were all talking about the influx of people into town for the shows. Roads are closed, the city has special websites aimed at helping both tourists and locals navigate the area, and Rogers spent $8 million to upgrade 5G wireless service at the Rogers Center ahead of the concerts.
Of more than half the people they spoke to Bulletin board for this story, almost everyone equated the preparations for the Eras tour with those that begin for the founding of TIFF – one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, held in the city every September – but all said that the Eras hype tour even surpassed that. Some hosting officials and locals see it as a trial run for the FIFA World Cup, which will host six games in the city in the summer of 2026, and as a way to prove that Toronto can host, and with diligence, those types of massive events. which are often held in the major cities of the world, inviting people to fly from all over the world.
There is one thing, however, that no one is particularly looking forward to: “It's going to be hell on earth in terms of traffic and the number of people,” Khabouth says, laughing again. (He plans to ride his scooter downtown “with a smile on his face” on the days of each show to avoid driving.) “But it's a happy time for all of us in Toronto, to have that energy, that vibe. . It is a very positive concert, you will see many happy faces, people excited. It's a really good opportunity for Toronto to stand out and say, 'Hey, we can play with the big boys.'
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-eras-tour-toronto-becomes-taylor-town-1235828619/
