SINGAPORE: We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: Where Taylor Swift goes, the money follows. And one of the people who has benefited from the singer’s enormous popularity is a Malaysian bus operator, who earned thousands of dollars a day bringing people to the Singapore leg of The Eras Tour.
In an interview on BFM 89.9 posted on Saturday (March 9) on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), Mr Amirul Sufi said, “For The Eras Tour, we managed to make about RM25,000 to RM30,000 (S$7100 to S$8,500) in one day,” through ferrying Swifties on three trips each day from Malaysia.
Bawa fans pergi tengok konsert Taylor Swift boleh buat sales RM30k sehari geng.
💰🏃 Bu$y Finding Modal – Episode 8 pic.twitter.com/aGmNfiVEQK
— BFM89.9 (@BFMradio) March 9, 2024
Now, factoring in his operating expenses for fuel, the driver’s salary, and vehicle maintenance, his profit comes out to the tidy sum of RM6000 (S$1,700) per day, which is not bad at all.
“The concerts will bring many benefits to many fields, including (the) tourism sector and bus operators like myself. Even though the concert was held in Singapore and boosted Singapore’s economy, my friends and I benefited from it too,” Mr Amirul said in the interview.
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The bus operator also shared the story of his company’s beginnings, saying that he founded it with RM10,000 (S$2,840) in the capital.
His company focuses on pick-up and drop-off services to and from concerts, specifically for fans from Malaysia and operates in Penang, Johor, and other areas.
And because Singapore was the only Southeast Asian stop for The Eras Tour, Mr Amirul did not pass up the chance to be there for Swifties as they journeyed from Malaysia to Singapore.
Read related: Economist expects Taylor Swift concerts to boost retail sales by whopping $150M
However, he told the interviewer that his service does not just involve ferrying passengers to and fro, saying, “I have to make sure that the customers are happy with the services and solve the problems they encounter, such as immigration issues, where to change clothes, where to eat.”
Scammers are a particular concern to him since he needs to take care of the well-being of his customers: “There are ticket scammers, hotel scammers and transport scammers. We don’t have a huge customer base, but we want to build people’s trust, and that’s very difficult.” /TISG
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