Countries around Southeast Asia believe that Singapore’s exclusive invitation to Taylor Swift limits tourism development, and vowed to organize more art events to attract tourists.

Singapore’s concert deal with American superstar Taylor Swift has sparked controversy among its ASEAN neighbors, observers said. Some countries expressed outrage over a provision that Singapore was the only country in the region that could invite Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift chose Singapore as the only Southeast Asian country to tour.

Singapore is expected to earn millions of dollars from 6 performances from March 2 by the 14-time Grammy Award-winning singer. During this period, businesses and tourism operators expect a bumper harvest because of the large number of fans attending the show.

Joey Salceda – a member of the Philippine House of Representatives – commented on February 28 that Singapore’s monopoly move is not what good neighbors do. In particular, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs asked the Singapore embassy to explain this agreement.

“A grant of USD 3 million was allegedly given by the Singapore government to promoter AEG to organize a concert in Singapore. It’s worth noting that they won’t be holding it anywhere else in the region,” Salceda said.

Salceda’s comments divided Filipino netizens, but many others said that the exclusivity clause deprived the Philippines of the opportunity to promote much-needed tourism.

Just a week earlier, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin made the first claim that Singapore pays Swift about $2.8 million per show. Since then, he has vowed to attract celebrities to Thailand with a series of new measures being implemented.

“We can bring A-list artists and world-class artists to Thailand. This must be done,” Reuters quoted the Thai Prime Minister.

In addition, the head of the country’s government announced that it would increase visa exemption for travel, change regulations on drinking alcohol at concerts and adjust the operating hours of entertainment venues as well as the time selling alcohol.

In Indonesia, Mr. Sandiaga Uno – Minister of Tourism – said the government needs what Singapore and Australia have done, which is to bring back Taylor Swift. We need Swiftonomics in Indonesia.”

In an interview with Bloomberg, he said the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has established the Indonesia Tourism Fund, with a starting value of 2,000 billion rupiah ($127 million) to support music, sports and cultural events .

Many tourists around the world flock to shows with Taylor Swift.

The term Swiftonomics was first mentioned by the US Federal Reserve in July 2023, meaning taking Taylor Swift associated with economic benefits. This female singer’s performances are not simply musical events but become a driving force for tourism development and local economic growth.

Singapore successfully convinced Taylor Swift to choose them as the only country in Southeast Asia to host 6 shows from March 2. This caused tens of thousands of people to flock to the shows, helping Singapore tourism boom. Notably, currently all 300,000 tickets for 6 shows are sold out with VIP ticket prices up to 900 USD.