The Taylor effect is real ... ready for it?

Pop superstar's November tour dates lead to spike in city's hotel, short-term rental prices

- DIANA ZLOMISLIC

Hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans have secured their coveted tickets for the tail end of the pop singer’s Eras tour in Toronto this fall. But where will they sleep?

For the most part, nowhere cheap, hospitality experts and short-term rental data indicate.

While November has historically been a quiet month in Toronto with fewer events, fewer bookings and lower rates for both hotels and short-term rentals, the “Taylor effect” — a term coined by economists to describe the impact of her concerts on local markets — is already shaking off that reputation with demand for accommodations driving up daily rates.

The Drake, a boutique hotel in the city’s Queen West area that is known for its art-filled contemporary rooms, has sold out for the duration of Swift’s tour dates, despite its posted daily rate more than doubling to $1,009.

The average daily rate of short-term rentals across Toronto is up roughly 70 per cent for the duration of Swift’s six-concert residency at the Rogers Centre compared to the same time in 2023, according to AirDNA, a company that supplies data on the short-term rental market including Airbnb and VRBO. That translates to roughly $350 per night for Swift’s six concert dates in November compared with $208 for the same nights last year.