Australian state seeks Taylor Swift visit with island renaming

After Taylor Swift's show in Sydney on Feb. 23, Tourism and Events Queensland, a state in north-eastern Australia, proposed renaming the state's Vlasoff Cay to Tay Cay, although this name will not be officially adopted, as reported by The New Zealand Herald.

The renaming of the island is an invitation for Taylor Swift to visit, offering amenities such as helicopter shuttle services, reef snorkeling, a champagne picnic, and accommodation on a nearby private island.

The invitation to Taylor Swift will be advertised in newspapers and online across Australia until Tuesday.

Vlasoff Cay has been a frequent promotional asset for Queensland's tourism.

Swift also has ties to Queensland, having previously treated her crew members to a vacation on Hamilton Island, the largest inhabited island in Queensland, back in 2015.

"It’s time for Taylor to enter her holiday era in Queensland," said Patricia O’Callaghan, CEO of Tourism and Events Queensland, with The New Zealand Herald.

Lighthouse, a Denver-based data provider for travel and hospitality, described The Eras Tour as "a hospitality phenomenon" in a study released in August. Analyzing data from 13 tour stops in North America, Lighthouse found that hotel room prices increased by an average of 7.7% before Swift's tour compared to the previous year, and by 7.2% during the tour itself.

STR, a global hospitality data and analytics company, estimated that hotels earned $208 million after Swift's U.S. shows over the summer. They believe this number might be conservative because it only includes revenue from Swift's 53 concert nights, not other factors like longer stays by fans.

Rate Gain, a global provider of travel and hospitality data, also observed a lasting impact on tour destinations, with travelers creating what it and others have termed "Swift-cations."

"Her concerts have brought so much noise that in addition to her being the center of attention, the destination is becoming the center of attention," Peter Strebel, president of RateGain's Americas region, told CNN Travel.