B.C.’s new AirBnB rules could make it more expensive to see Taylor Swift next year

If you’re a Swiftie, or if one lives in your home, you’ve no doubt heard – Taylor Swift is bringing the Eras Tour to Vancouver with three shows in December 2024.

Fans across the country celebrated the news, including here on Vancouver Island.

“The energy in those stadiums is so tangible, you could like, bite it off. It’s electric,” said Island fan Kendra Pomfret.

She saw the Eras Tour in L.A. and is not about to miss out on the show in her extended backyard.

“I would delay the purchase of a home for this,” she said with a laugh.

READ MORE: Are you ready for it? Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour coming to Vancouver in 2024

But getting a ticket will only be the first step in attending the concert in Vancouver if you’re coming from out of town.

With B.C. bringing down the hammer on short term rentals in the province, thousands of Swift fans may need to battle for a place to stay to see the concert.

Swift is performing over three nights at B.C. Place, which has a capacity of more than 54,000 people. With each show expected to be sold out, some 163,000 Swifties will be in Vancouver over the three-day stop. The problem is, there’s only 13,000 hotel rooms in the city.

By then, B.C.’s new legislation banning short term rentals outside of a property owner’s primary residence will be in effect, meaning thousands of AirBnBs and similar rentals will have been pulled off the market in May.

BC United calls for fewer regulations

The opposition BC United party argued Thursday that the province should allow people to operate one AirBnB property, in addition to their principal residence.

But the NDP has already voted down that idea in the legislature, saying it won’t let people profit anymore off real estate that could be sold or rented long term.

“When you take out 5,000 or so AirBnB units, let’s say, out of the mix that’s going to create a huge shortage, especially when you consider a lot of AirBnB units were ones that could handle groups of people much easier than your typical hotel room that would handle two or four people,” said Peter Milobar, BC United MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson.

“What you are going to find is people having to pay $1,000-plus for hotels that a lot of nights that might only be $200 or $300 in the downtown Vancouver area.”

It’s not clear which is going to cost more, an actual Taylor Swift ticket or a Vancouver hotel room. But either way, if you are budgeting hundreds of dollars for this trip, you better get ready to double it.

With files from CHEK’s Rob Shaw and Jordan Cunningham

SEE ALSO:

• ‘You won’t regret it,’ says Premier Eby, asking Taylor Swift to bring tour to B.C.
• Cruel summer: Taylor Swift scam hits Victoria, but company blames ‘internal error’

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