Taylor Swift has become a cultural phenomenon as one of the biggest celebrities in the world.
The popularity of her music is doing the unthinkable.
And Taylor Swift’s new album is having this surprising impact on Florida tourism.
Taylor Swift mentions Florida in her new album
Pop superstar Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
The 31-track double album features a song titled “Florida!!!” that features indie rock band Florence and the Machine.
In the song, Swift sings, “So you work your life away just to pay / For a time-share down in Destin (Take me to Florida).”
Destin, Florida, is a beach town on the panhandle that has become a popular vacation destination.
Getting mentioned on a Taylor Swift song is having a major impact on the small tourist town.
Destin Mayor Bobby Wagner told Thrillist that he was swamped with messages after the song was released.
“I was not sure exactly what was going on, but I quickly realized that Taylor dropped an album last night,” Wagner said. “We’re super honored to be the only city that was mentioned in her ‘Florida’ song. I think it’s an awesome moody song and we were just very happy and excited to be a part of the T-Swizzle community.”
Florida town looks to capitalize on mention in Taylor Swift song
Swift’s record-setting Era Tours last year became an economic driver of tourism dollars for the cities in which she performed.
It is estimated that her tour had a more than $5 billion impact on the United States tourism industry.
Destin-Fort Walton Beach tourism director Jennifer Adams said that her team celebrated when they learned Swift mentioned Destin in her song.
It is already driving interest in the town.
“We’ve not only seen more searches on Google, but we’ve had a lot of inquiries into the welcome center,” Adams said. “And, lots of locals. Everybody really, really seems very pleased. We’re thrilled.”
Wagner said that this was an opportunity to capitalize on the Swift name-drop for a town where the majority of the economy is tourism.
“Naturally we’re trying to reach out to her,” Wagner stated. “Granted, we could never accommodate the amount of people for a tour. I mean, you’d really see a failure of gridlock traffic if we were to try to host a Taylor Swift concert in Destin.”
The Destin Mayor pointed out that timeshares are only a small part of the town.
“I absolutely respect her art and can attest because my fiancé’s a songwriter—but, well, I think we have one timeshare group in Destin,” Wagner said. “We have 14,000 locals that live here. So, while she mentions timeshares, we are definitely much more than timeshares.”
The lone timeshare group in Destin welcomed Swift’s fans to check out the area.
“Destin is one the country’s great beach destinations and is often overlooked. We’re excited that people will be exploring our community,” Club Wyndham Beach Street Cottages General Manager Erin Maloney said.
Taylor Swift could drive tourism dollars to Destin just by the mere mention of the town on her album.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
