For some, the Eurovision Song Contest is just another TV show on a Saturday night, but for many, it is THE event of the year! To countless viewers, it’s the Olympics of music – a moment to share with friends and family, and to root for your favorite entry. For some lucky die-hard fans, it’s even time to travel to Basel, as the live broadcast is staged in front of a large, enthusiastic audience. As such, the Eurovision Song Contest represents a unique opportunity for the city’s hospitality sector to showcase its offerings on a global stage. Beyond the spectacle, Eurovision is a prime example of – a growing travel trend where fans journey to experience live music events. Let’s review how such a cultural event can drive “event tourism” to Basel and impact the city’s international attractiveness.
Eurovision in Television Figures
This year’s edition is available to view in the 37 participating countries. Over 230 territories worldwide will catch it on television or online, meaning that it will be one of the planet’s most-watched events of the year. In the past three years, viewership has steadily increased to 161 million in 2022, 162 million in 2023, and 163 million last year.
If the trend continues, 164 million viewers will be tuning in to the three-night event based in Basel, enhancing the Swiss city’s standing on the world stage. While we do not know yet how Basel will be showcased during the live sections, the traditional ‘postcards’ (short videos introducing each entry before each performance) have already been shot in 16 of Switzerland’s cantons. This is the first time since 2019 that all the postcards have been shot in the host country. Postcards have been an essential part of Eurovision since 1970, and many host countries have used them to promote iconic tourist locations.
Visitors to Basel and the Potential Economic Impact
The Eurovision Song Contest also has a massive following of people travelling to watch in person. People can attend the live performances, jury shows, and dress rehearsals for each of the semi-finals and the grand finale, meaning that nine shows stand to attract tourists during Eurovision week.
Last year’s host city, Malmö, Sweden, had over 51,000 visitors attending the Eurovision Song Contest events. In 2022, when Turin, Italy, hosted the event, over 55,000 visitors participated in the festivities. While these two editions showcase similar numbers, the 2023 contest hosted in Liverpool, England, reported that a staggering 306,000 people had come to be part of the celebrations.
So, should Basel expect 50,000 or 300,000 people? This year, Basel is expecting 500,000 tourists (!) as it will also be creating many activities for the fans besides the shows themselves. While tourists coming for the shows are mainly European, many will also come from countries such as the United States or Australia (the latter has been participating in Eurovision since 2015).
Regarding economic expectations, the predicted tourism revenue for Basel should exceed €35 million. Last year’s tourism spending in Malmö topped SEK 445 million (approximately €38.5 million) and Liverpool hauled in £42.3 million (approximately €49.5 million) in 2023, which is a major shot in the arm for the local economy. In Turin, overall, the contest had a positive impact of €100 million, with €23 million the result of tourism and the remaining €66 million the equivalent of spending this amount on international advertising.
How Basel Hotels Can Capitalize on Eurovision
This influx of tourists coming for the contest will provide ample opportunity for the city to capture a wide international tourism revenue. However, it must learn from the previous miscalculations of other host cities that did not capitalize wisely on the opportunity.
Smith Travel Research shows that Basel is home to 77 hotels. These hotels are likely to continuously increase their room rates and sell out during Eurovision week if they strategize correctly. While the hotels can set prices far and above their normal rates for May, they must be careful that while they are price makers in their monopolistic competition market, they still need to appeal to guests willing to spend the money on the room.
This is the problem that Tel Aviv faced when it hosted the Eurovision in 2019. Hotels drastically increased their room rates, assuming that tourists coming for the event would have no option but to pay the inflated rates. Instead of paying, tourists stayed home to watch it on television. That year, 182 million viewers were reported to have watched the event broadcast on TV across 40 European markets, capturing the tourists who did not want to pay the exorbitant prices of hotels in Tel Aviv.
Hotels need to utilize dynamic pricing to increase their standard room rates and, at the same time, create unique packages. However, it seems that this year hotels have not seized the opportunity to add value for guests by tailoring specific packages for Eurovision. Indeed, it was nearly impossible to find hotels mentioning the event, let alone find offers specifically designed for Eurovision fans. Nevertheless, the possibilities could have been endless.
Creative Hotel Strategies for Eurovision
Hotels could have considered creating themed rooms for each of the 37 participating countries, e.g., rooms with custom-made artwork showcasing the region, referencing current and previous participants. Further ideas include playlists with the country’s previous Eurovision song entries available directly in the room and on popular streaming services. The culinary team could prepare room service menus reflecting popular dishes from the participants’ countries, and perhaps even a unique dish inspired by this year’s song entry. Such creative touches enhance the guest experience and are ideal for generating shareable content that boost social media visibility.
One hotel that will truly benefit from the event is the Nomad Design & Lifestyle Hotel. It was selected by Booking.com (partner of the Eurovision Song Contest) as the hotel that will host the winner of the ‘Ultimate Experience for Eurovision Fans’ contest. Two lucky guests will have the opportunity to meet five legends of Eurovision and participate in various activities with them, such as attending the grand finale. Although it may represent only one room for the hotel, the marketing impact is potentially huge.
The good news for the hospitality sector is that not only hotels in Basel will benefit from the event. Hotels from other cantons, such as Jura or Bern, also hope to attract customers who may not be able to pay the high room rates in the host city. To help with this initiative, the Swiss train company SBB has announced that special night trains will be available for tourists lodging outside Basel.
Events and Partnerships
Basel decided to innovate this year by broadcasting the grand finale in the largest Swiss football stadium, an arena that can hold 36,000 people. A spectacular pre-show with Swiss and international artists from Eurovision is kicking off the event. Moreover, either directly with the City of Basel or through the sponsors of the contest, many partnership events will be held in Basel during the week of Eurovision. For example, Helvetia will open its Campus Helvetia and host activities such as karaoke, exclusive performances, and meet & greets. Similarly, the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel will have specific exhibition pieces and events for kids and adults.
Post Eurovision Song Contest
The aim for this one-week event is to positively affect tourism numbers for years to come. The city of Basel has dedicated a whole section of its website to inviting Eurovision guests to come back for other international events hosted by the city, such as the highly prestigious Art Basel fair. This should reinforce the status of Basel as a city of art and culture. Tourists will be encouraged to travel to Basel based on the positive images seen on television and read about in countless media articles during the event. Is there any better way of attracting media attention than by creating the biggest turquoise carpet for the opening ceremony in the history of Eurovision?
This internationally renowned contest demonstrates how cultural events can significantly boost tourism and revenue for host cities. Switzerland recently received a big boost from Taylor Swift’s concert in Zürich last year. All this sets the stage for another European-wide event that is poised to further drive “event tourism” in Switzerland: the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025. The July event is the second opportunity for the Alpine country to raise its international tourism profile and generate unprecedented revenues.
