Beyoncé’s decision to kick off her Renaissance World Tour in Sweden is now catching some heat for inflating prices there. According CNN, the chief economist at Danske Bank said the May tour stop led to a surge in hotel and restaurant prices in the area. Thousands of fans visited the city for the highly anticipated first leg of the show.
Swarmed By The Bees
In an interview with CNN Business, Danske’s Michael Grahn shared that the two-third price increase in the country, particularly in the hospitality sector can be traced back to the Beyhive swarming Sweden for the two sold-out shows Renaissance shows. According to official statistics, annual consumer price inflation is said to have lowered to 9.7% in May from 10.5% in April. Grahn describes the situation as abnormal, citing that although huge stars make a stop in Sweden all the time, “we seldom see effects like this.”
Some members of the Beyhive made the decision to fly to Sweden where prices were cheaper. Many fans who made the trip, flew in from all parts of the U.S. As one fan told BuzzFeed News, “I don’t know if she’s going to be doing too much touring after this one. If it is her last time doing a big tour, I want to [be there]. So I made plans to go to this one for sure.”
According to Grahn, the number of hotels and accommodation outfits around Stockholm are in limited supply, which was another factor that contributed to the price hike. Even hotels as far away as 31 miles from the capital also hiked their prices to take advantage of the rise in demand.
Nonetheless, Grahn predicts the Beyoncé effect to die out after a while, with accommodation prices hopefully back to normal in June.
“We expect this upside surprise to be reversed in June as prices on hotels and tickets reverse back to normal,” he tweeted.